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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

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http://www.archive.org/details/americangraphicaOOweitiala 


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Lithofrrapli  liy  John  S.  Sargent 


AMERICAN 
GRAPH  I  C     ART 


BY 


F.  WEITENKAMPF 

Chief,  Art  and  Prints  Divisions,  New  York  Public  Library 
Author  of  "How  to  Appreciate  Prints,"  etc. 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 
1912 


146412 


COPYKIGHT,    I912, 
BY 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


Published  October,  igi2 


THE    eUlNN    «    MDCN    CO.   PREM 
RAHWAr,    N.   J. 


A  WORD  OF  EXPLANATION 

The  history  of  American  painting  and  sculpture  has 
been  written  more  than  once  in  recent  years.  That  of 
the  reproductive  graphic  arts  as  a  whole  remains  to  be 
told.  There  are  such  monographs  as  W.  J.  Linton's 
excellent  and  partly  polemical  record  of  American 
wood-engraving  and  Ripley  Hitchcock's  very  useful  vol- 
ume on  etching  in  the  United  States,  both  published  in 
the  eighties  of  the  last  century.  There  is,  too,  D.  McN. 
Stauffer's  alphabetical  record  of  our  engravers  on  copper, 
an  invaluable  book  of  reference.  But  the  only  connected 
and  comprehensive  account  of  American  graphic  art  ap- 
peared, strange  to  say,  in  German.  In  the  last  decade  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  Gesellschaft  fur  Vervielfdlti- 
gende  Kunst,  of  Vienna,  issued  its  monumental  four- 
volume  work  on  "  contemporary  reproductive  art,"  the 
history  of  the  achievement  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In 
this,  the  American  section  was  covered  by  the  late  S.  R. 
Koehler  for  etching  and  wood-engraving  and  by  the  pres- 
ent writer  for  lithography.  The  story  is  one  worth  tell- 
ing in  English.  And  it  should  be  carried  back  to  the 
early  products  of  our  art,  of  such  a  strong  historical  in- 
terest, and  down  to  the  most  recent  efforts  at  original 
expression,  as  we  see  them  in  the  present  revival  of  painter- 
etching,  and  in  the  individual  adoption  of  the  wood  block 
and  the  lithographic  stone  as  painter-media. 


vi  A  WORD  OF  EXPLANATION 

The  object  of  the  present  book  is  to  group  scattered 
facts  in  a  brief  but  clear  review  of  the  whole  field  of 
American  graphic  art.  It  is  not  intended  to  present  a 
detailed  list  including  every  artist  who  may  have  practised 
any  of  these  arts  in  this  country,  but  to  offer  a  survey 
that  will  bring  out  salient  or  characteristic  personalities 
and  tendencies. 

In  place  of  a  formal  bibliography,  citation  of  literature 
on  special  topics  is  made  at  the  proper  places  in  the  body 
of  the  book. 

Thanks  are  due  to  Messrs.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons  for 
permission  to  reprint  certain  paragraphs  from  my  con- 
tributions to  their  magazine.  F.  W. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER 

A  Word  of  Explanation v 

I  Etching:  Early  Attempts  and  the  New  York  Etching  Club 

Period            i 

II  Etching:  The  Present  Revival 38 

III  Engraving  in  Line  and  Stipple:  The  Eighteenth  Century  51 

IV  Line  and  Stipple  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  ....  75 
V    Mezzotint  (The  Art  of  Rocker  and  Scraper)  .       .       .       .107 

VI    Aquatint  and  Some  Other  Tints 122 

VII    Wood-Engraving i37 

VIII    The  "New  School"  of  Wood-Engraving 154 

IX    Painter- Wood-Engraving 171 

X   Lithography:  A  Business,  an  Art 180 

XI    The  Illustrators 205 

XII    Caricature 240 

XIII  The  Comic  Paper 266 

XIV  The   Book-Plate 291 

XV   Applied  Graphic  Art:  From  Business  Card  to  Poster    .      .312 

Index          343 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Study.    Lithograph  by  John  S.  Sargent Frontispiece 

FAGX 

Mud  Boats  on  Thames.    Etching  by  Charles  A.  Platt      ...       14 

{Courtesy  of  F.  Keppel  &  Co.) 
Theatre  Royal,  Haymarket.    Etching  by  Joseph  Pennell  .       .       .       zo 

(Courtesy  of  F.  Keppel  &  Co.) 
Summer  at  Eastharapton.    Etching  by  Mrs.  Mary  Nimmo  Moran  .      24 

{Courtesy  of  F.  Keppel  &  Co.) 

Mother  and  Baby.    Dry-point  by  Mary  Cassatt 34 

A  Bit  of  Mount  Vernon  St.,  Boston.     Etching  by  Charles  Henry 
White 40 

(Courtesy  of  Harper  &  Brothers.) 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  Etching  by  Otto  J.  Schneider  ...  44 
Japanese  Priest.  Dry-point  by  Cadwallader  Washburn  ...  44 
The  Poe  Cottage,  Fordham,  New  York.  Etching  by  C.  F.  W.  Mielatz  48 
Jonathan  Mayhew.  Line-engraving  on  copper  by  Paul  Revere  .  62 
Andrew  Jackson,  after  Sully.  Stipple  engraving  by  J.  B.  Longacre  76 
Ariadne.     Line-engraving,  from  a  painting  by  John  Vanderlyn,  by 

A.   B.    DURAND 90 

Cotton  Mather.    Mezzotint  by  Peter  Pelham 108 

Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  after  a  painting  by  himself.     Mezzotint  by 

John  Sartain 116 

New  York  from  Governor's  Island.     Aquatint,  after  W.  G.  Wall, 

by  John  Hill 126 

Old   Mills,  Coast  of  Virginia.     Soft-ground   etching  by  James  D. 

Smillie 132 

Old  Dam.    Aquatint  by  James  D.  Smillie 132 

Richard  Mather,  by  John  Foster.    The  first  known  wood-engraving 

executed  in  the  colonies 140 

The  Last  Arrow.     Wood-engraving  after  J.  G.  Chapman  by  J.  A. 

Adams 140 

The  Haywain,  after  John  Constable.    Wood-engraving  by  Timothy 

Cole 154 

(Courtesy  of  the  Century  Co.) 

vs. 


X  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Girl    and    Peonies,    after    Irving    R.    Wiles.      Wood-engraving   by 

Henry   Wolf i66 

{Courtesy  of  Harper  &  Brothers.) 

The  New   Yorit  Public  Library.     Black  key-block  of  a   two-color 

wood-engraving  by  Run.  Ruzicka 179 

The  two  earliest  known  lithographs  produced  in  the  United  States. 

Both  by  Bass  Otis i8o 

Washington.    Lithograph  by  Rembrandt  Peale 184 

One  of  the  "  Campagne  Sketches,"  a  series  of  lithographs  by  WlN- 

SLOW  Homer 190 

Flower-girl.    Lithograph  by  William  M.  Hunt 196 

View  on  the  Seine.    Lithograph  by  H.  W.  Ranger       ....     200 

Limehouse.     Lithotint  by  J.  A.  M.  Whistler 202 

A  Scene  from  "  Oliver  Twist."     A  Scene  from  Cooper's  "  Leather 
Stocking  Tales."     Illustrations,  engraved  on  steel,  from  designs 

by  Felix  O.  C.  Darley 210 

"  There  never  was  anything  the  least  serious  between  us."    Illustra- 
tion for  Henry  James's  "  Julia  Bride,"  by  W.  T.  Smedley       .     222 
{Courtesy  of  Harper  &  Brothers.) 
Viewing  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  by  Howard  Pyle  ....     230 

{Courtesy  of  Harper  &  Brothers.) 
Illustration  for  "  To-morrow's  Tangle,"  by  Arthur  I.  Keller  .       .     238 

{Courtesy  of  Bobbs-Merrill  Co.) 
A  Caricature  of  the  War  of  1812,  by  William  Charles     .       .       .     250 
One  of  the  Anti-Tweed  caricatures  in  Harper's  Weekly,  by  Thomas 

Nast 274 

Cartoon,  Puck,  April  28,  1886,  by  Joseph  Keppler      ....     274 
{Courtesy  of  Puck.) 

Book-plate   of   George   Washington 294 

A  Group  of  Modern  Book-plates  by  E.  A.  Abbey,  W.  E.  Fisher, 

W.  F.  HopsoN,  E.  D.  French,  S.  L.  Smith,  G.  W.  Edwards      .    310 
(Courtesy  of  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.) 


AMERICAN    GRAPHIC    ART 


AMERICAN    GRAPHIC  ART 

CHAPTER  I 

ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  AND  THE 
NEW  YORK  ETCHING  CLUB  PERIOD 

The  first  strong  impulse  toward  the  practice  of  painter- 
etching  in  this  country  came  at  the  time  of  the  founding 
of  the  New  York  Etching  Club  in  1877.  There  was  a 
preliminary  period  of  preparation  extending  over  a  dozen 
years,  marked  by  the  efforts  of  such  men  as  Falconer, 
Cole,  Warren  and  Forbes.  Still  earlier  sporadic  efforts 
take  us  back  into  the  eighteenth  century. 

According  to  W.  S.  Baker,  Joseph  Wright's  portrait 
of  Washington  (1790)  was  probably  the  first  etching 
executed  by  a  painter.  This  profile,  done  "  with  much 
taste  and  freedom,"  said  Baker,  enthusiastically,  was  evi- 
dently copied  in  the  similar  one  by  Joseph  Hiller,  Jr. 
(1794) .  The  latter  was  described  in  a  pamphlet  ( 1907) 
by  Charles  H.  Hart,  who  saw  four  impressions,  all  on 
the  backs  of  playing  cards,  and  found  the  original  plate. 
It  is  recorded  also  that  St.  Memin  etched  two  large  views 
of  New  York  City,  and  a  business  card  for  Peter  Mour- 
geon,  copper-plate  printer  from  Paris.  And  one  may 
go  farther  and  extract  from  the  pages  of  Dunlap's  "  His- 
tory of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  the  United  States,"  or 
Stauffer's  useful  work,  or  Ripley  Hitchcock's  little  vol- 


2  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

ume  on  "Etching  in  America  "  (1886),  packed  with  in- 
formation, names  such  as  that  of  Pigalle  (1797),  who 
did  title-pages,  or  John  Rubens  Smith  (like  D.  C.  Johns- 
ton, Hugh  Bridport  and  others,  he  practised  various 
methods),  or  Francis  Kearny  (said  to  have  studied  the 
soft-ground  process  as  well).  Dunlap  himself  was  ini- 
tiated by  Peter  Maverick  into  whatever  the  latter  might 
know  of  etching  and  executed  a  frontispiece  for  a  "  dra- 
matic trifle,"  published  in  1797  or  1798  (a  portrait  of 
Wignell,  the  actor,  in  the  role  of  Darby).  As  for  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  technique  of  the  art,  printed  directions 
existed  here  at  least  as  early  as  1794.  In  that  year  there 
was  reprinted  in  Philadelphia  the  sixth  edition  of  an 
English  work  entitled  "  The  artist's  assistant  in  draw- 
ing, perspective,  etching,  engraving,  mezzotinto-scrap- 
ing,  painting  on  glass,  &c.,"  of  which  Chapter  III,  pages 
33-37,  is  devoted  to  etching.  A  copy  of  the  little  book, 
bound  up  with  seven  other  pamphlets  into  one  volume, 
was  in  Washington's  library. 

A  picture  of  the  Theatre  in  Chestnut  Street,  Philadel- 
phia, signed  Gilbert  Fox  Aquafortis,  was  presumably 
done  about  1800.  And  we  cross  over  into  the  new  cen- 
tury with  Alexander  Lawson,  the  engraver,  who  "  had 
points  made  for  etching  and  tried  that."  He  found  em- 
ployment with  Thackara  and  Vallance,  whose  "  attempts 
at  etching  miscarried."  W.  Birch's  "  Country  Seats  of 
the  United  States"  (1808)  are  also  to  be  noted,  as  is 
the  crude  view  of  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans,  signed 
Francis  Scacki.  And  William  Charles  executed  in 
soft-ground  etching  and  roulette,  for  Rees'  Cyclopedia, 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  3 

two  facsimiles  of  drawings  by  Poussin.  At  this  time, 
also,  Dr.  John  Rodman  Coxe  experimented  in  etching  on 
glass  with  fluoric  acid,  executing  a  little  landscape  which 
was  published  in  the  *'  Emporium  of  Arts  and  Sciences  " 
(Philadelphia)   for  18 12. 

But  all  of  this  early  history  is  little  more  than  a  record 
of  names  and  attempts.  Excepting  possibly  a  few  pro- 
ductions, such  as  those  with  which  Benjamin  West  ( 1801- 
2)  is  credited,  or  those  signed  by  Thomas  Middleton,  an 
amateur  (18 14),  there  is  hardly  anything  of  that  time 
that  can  be  regarded  as  painter-etching.  Not  only  was 
most  of  it  a  matter  of  application  of  the  art  to  portraiture 
and  other  practical  ends,  as  in  John  Baker's  plates  of 
The  Battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  and  of  Washington  Cross- 
ing the  Delaware,  done  early  in  the  thirties,  but  etching 
was,  furthermore,  usually  not  employed  in  its  purity,  but 
as  a  basis  for  line-engraving. 

There  was  an  early  attempt  to  use  etching  as  a  repro- 
ductive art;  that,  too,  came  to  nothing.  Robert  W. 
Weir  said  that  about  1820  he  "copied  some  of  Rem- 
brandt's etchings  so  close  as  to  be  with  difficulty  de- 
tected," and  he  "  was  on  the  eve  of  turning  my  attention 
seriously  to  the  publication  of  etchings  from  various  old 
pictures  in  the  possession  of  different  gentlemen  in  New 
York,  but  ...  it  fell  through  after  the  first  or  second 
plate  was  finished." 

England,  from  which  so  much  of  our  art  influence 
came  in  those  days,  furnished  models  for  us  also  In  the 
fields  of  caricature  and  book-illustration  by  etching.  In 
the  first  few  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,   etched 


4  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

caricature  of  the  period  of  the  third  and  fourth  Georges 
had  a  weak  reflection  here  in  the  productions  of  William 
Charles;  and,  later,  George  Cruikshank  was  imitated,  in 
manner  and  choice  of  subject,  in  the  "  Scraps,"  which 
were  issued  periodically  for  a  time  in  the  thirties  and 
forties,  by  David  Claypoole  Johnston.  The  Dickens 
period  of  illustration  by  etching,  in  England,  had  likewise 
its  imitation  here.  Yeager  re-etched  the  Cruikshank 
plates  for  the  American  editions  of  "  Harry  Lorrequer  " 
and  other  books,  and  Frank  Bellew  illustrated  the  1853 
edition  of  John  T.  Irving's  "  The  Attorney  "  in  the  man- 
ner of  Phiz.  All  of  which  is  recorded  here,  not  because 
of  any  noteworthy  influence  on  the  development  of  orig- 
inal etching,  but  simply  on  account  of  its  historical  interest. 

One  must  not  look  in  this  early  work  for  any  of  the 
characteristics  of  etching  that  we  have  learned  to  appre- 
ciate and  prize.  As  Hitchcock  points  out,  the  etchings 
shown  at  the  early  Academy  exhibitions  in  New  York 
no  more  deserved  the  name  than  did  the  engravings  of 
Smillie.  Dunlap  spoke  of  etching  as  a  mere  "  auxiliary 
to  engraving,"  and  that  is  precisely  what  it  was  in  his 
day  and  for  a  generation  and  more  afterward.  The  fact 
that  etching  was  used  as  a  first  stage  in  line-engraving 
on  steel  would  not  necessarily  promote  original  produc- 
tion. (Nevertheless,  etching  in  its  role  of  a  handmaid 
to  line-engraving  was  used  with  knowledge  and  delicacy 
by  such  men  as  James  Smillie,  A.  H.  Ritchie  and  R. 
Hinshelwood.) 

In  one  case,  that  of  John  Gadsby  Chapman  (painter 
of  the  Pocahontas  picture  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  5 

at  Washington),  a  natural  predisposition  to  a  measured 
precision  of  statement,  joined  to  a  liberal  use  of  the  ruling 
machine  for  the  skies,  resulted  in  plates  of  a  delicate, 
neat  execution  that  have  much  of  the  formality  of  bank- 
note art.  And  in  the  occasional  etchings  of  a  profes- 
sional engraver  such  as  Joseph  Yeager,  who  etched  por- 
traits and  closely  copied  Cruikshank's  plates  for  Ameri- 
can editions  of  some  books  illustrated  by  him,  one  ex- 
pects even  less  to  find  the  freedom  and  swing  of  the 
needle  used  as  a  means  of  direct  personal  expression. 
Even  George  Loring  Brown,  who  did  a  series  of  nine 
etchings  in  Rome  (1853-55),  published  here  in  i860 
with  the  title  "  Etchings  of  the  Campagna,"  was  influ- 
enced by  the  conventions  of  the  time.  Like  Chapman 
he  affected  finish  and  tone;  but  his  effects  are  richer. 
Emanuel  Leutze  and  E.  J.  Kuntze  are  listed  among  those 
who  did  some  etchings  at  about  this  period.  Hermann 
Carmiencke,  who  came  to  this  country  in  185 1,  executed 
plates  with  the  completeness  of  effect  of  a  Waterloo,  or 
Dietrich  ("Etchings  of  American,  Italian  and  German 
Views,"  published  by  Emil  Seitz,  New  York).  T.  F. 
Hoppin  pictured  the  Escape  of  Captain  Wharton  and  the 
Rescue  of  John  Smith  In  peculiar,  heavy  outlines  for  the 
American  Art  Union  ( 1 848-50) .  The  fact  that  the  vol- 
umes on  "Tuscan  Sculptors"  (1864)  and  "Italian 
Sculptors"  (1868),  by  Charles  C.  Perkins,  were  Illus- 
trated in  etching  by  the  author.  Is  noted  simply  on  ac- 
count of  this  somewhat  unusual  use  of  the  medium. 

A  highly  valuable  historical  review  of  this  introductory 
period  was  offered  in  the  exhibition  of  nearly  six  hundred 


6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

plates  by  about  a  hundred  American  artists,  held  In  the 
Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  in  1881.  It  included  work 
by  Dunlap,  D.  C.  Johnston,  R.  W.  Weir,  W.  Franquinet 
(1845),  W.  W.  Weeks  (1845),  Thomas  G.  Appleton 
(1847),  Henry  B.  Gay  (1849),  J-  G.  Chapman,  Wil- 
liam Wilson  (1849)  ^"d  Edwin  White  (1849).  ^^^ 
so  we  come  to  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  when 
painters  began  to  interest  themselves  in  the  art. 

Whistler  had  begun  his  French  set  as  early  as  1858, 
and  his  Thames  set  in  1859,  but  there  was  no  immediate 
response  here  to  the  appeal  that  his  works  constituted. 
It  remained  for  the  next  generation  to  appreciate  fully 
such  works  as  his  Kitchen,  Vieille  aux  Loques  and  Black 
Lion  Wharf.  After  them  came  his  Venice  plates,  of  a 
vivacity,  a  sureness  of  vision,  a  sense  of  adjustment  of 
means,  a  pre-eminent  mastery  in  selection,  an  exquisite- 
ness  of  execution  that  have  placed  him  in  the  front  rank 
of  the  etchers  of  all  time.  It  is  surely  not  necessary  here 
to  say  more,  to  attempt  to  summarize  what  has  been 
written  of  his  etched  work  by  the  Pennells,  Bacher, 
Menpes,  Theodore  Duret  or  Miss  E.  L.  Cary.  Two 
definitive  catalogues  of  his  plates  have  been  issued,  one 
by  Howard  Mansfield  for  the  Caxton  Club  of  Chicago 
(1909),  the  other  by  E.  G.  Kennedy  for  the  Grolier 
Club  of  New  York  (1910),  the  latter  sumptuously  illus- 
trated with  a  reproduction  of  each  etching. 

From  the  eighties  to  the  present,  the  influence  of 
Whistler  has  been  decidedly  felt  in  the  work  of  our 
etchers.  Meanwhile,  however,  we  are  in  the  sixties,  and 
witnessing  somewhat  different  tendencies  and  movements. 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  7 

The  late  S.  R.  Koehler,  in  the  chapter  on  the  United 
States  which  he  contributed  to  the  important  folio  volume 
in  German  on  contemporary  etching  ("  Die  Radioing 
der  Gegenwart,"  Vienna,  1892-93),  rather  ingeniously 
points  out  that  it  was  the  rising  French  influence  in  art, 
after  the  middle  of  the  century,  bringing  with  it  the  note 
of  individualism  which  was  the  real  factor  of  importance 
in  the  development  of  painter-etching  here.  Before  that, 
under  the  domination,  successively,  of  England,  Italy  and 
Diisseldorf,  with  the  accent  on  the  subject  in  the  picture, 
there  were  produced  plates  by  men  who  worked  in  the 
spirit  of  the  engraver,  such  as  J.  G.  Chapman  and  George 
L.  Brown,  already  referred  to. 

In  1866  Cadart,  the  Paris  publisher  of  etchings,  came 
to  the  United  States,  held  an  exhibition  of  French  etch- 
ings in  New  York  City  (in  the  Derby  Gallery — Chauncey 
L.  Derby,  625  Broadway),  and  formed  an  American 
branch  of  the  French  Society  of  Etchers.  A  number  of 
artists  were  interested  through  Cadart's  efforts,  Victor 
Nehlig,  Edwin  Forbes,  J.  M.  Falconer,  Charles  H.  Mil- 
ler, J.  Foxcroft  Cole  among  them.  Forbes,  who  had  been 
an  artist-correspondent  during  the  Civil  War,  did  a  series 
of  Life  Studies  of  the  Great  Army.  They  were  only 
drawn  by  him  on  the  grounded  copper,  however;  the 
biting  and  printing  were  left  to  other  hands.  Falconer, 
who  had  made  his  first  attempt  in  1849,  had,  as  Koehler 
says,  "  an  open  eye  for  the  poetry  of  decay,"  and  a 
peculiar,  rough  manner  of  presenting  his  views  of  streets 
and  old  buildings  in  New  York,  Boston  and  other  cities, 
but  he  surely  could  work  also  in  high  finish. 


8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

In  the  introduction  to  the  fourth  volume  of  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Societe  des  Aquafortistes  Frangais, 
1866,  says  Koehler,  Castagnary  wrote  of  Cadart's  in- 
fluence here  in  rather  superlative  terms,  as  having  won 
"  a  new  continent  for  the  cause."  Some  impetus  to  the 
practice  of  original  etching  was  given  by  the  Frenchman's 
efforts,  but  the  results  do  not  appear  to  have  been  far- 
reaching. 

Furthermore,  an  earlier  impulse  toward  the  practice  of 
original  etching  is  to  be  noted.  Henry  Russell  Wray,  in 
his  "Review  of  Etching  in  the  United  States"  (1893), 
writing  with  knowledge  of  Philadelphia  affairs,  records 
that  as  early  as  i860  or  '61,  John  Sartain  illustrated  the 
process  of  etching,  by  practical  demonstration,  for 
Thomas  Moran  and  S.  J.  Ferris. 

The  attention  paid  to  etching  as  a  possible  means  of 
expression  for  the  painter  began  gradually  to  increase, 
and  to  be  based  on  more  seriousness  and  discrimination. 
The  possibilities  of  the  art  were  being  more  fully  appre- 
ciated, the  individual  note  became  more  pronounced. 
The  little  landscapes  of  A.  W.  Warren  (died  1873), 
unpretentious,  simple  in  method,  showing  much  of  what 
etchings  should  have,  are  among  the  most  satisfactory 
results  of  this  period.  In  1872  Henry  Farrer  entered  on 
the  path  since  followed  with  such  success  by  Pennell, 
Mielatz  and  others,  by  bringing  out  a  series  of  views  of 
New  York.  Farrer  had  an  idyllic  vein,  a  liking  for 
tonality,  a  preference  for  sunset  effects  with  the  simple, 
direct  expression  of  mood  which  they  permit, — all  charac- 
teristics sure  to  win  popularity — and  honest  artistic  feel- 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  9 

ing  withal.  Also  I  have  seen  at  least  three  plates  by 
Wyatt  Eaton,  two  heads  and  a  study  of  a  plant  (1877). 
All  these  are  not  startling  facts.  There  were  neither  dar- 
ing innovations  nor  brilliant  achievements,  nor  even,  on 
the  whole,  a  full  understanding  of  the  problem  presented. 
But  there  was  decidedly  creditable  accomplishment  and  the 
soil  was  being  successfully  prepared.  Ripley  Hitch- 
cock comments  on  the  too  heavy  inking  of  Forbes's 
Life  Studies,  lacking  the  refinements  mastered  in  Paris, 
and  on  the  too  dry  printing  of  Warren's  little  landscapes, 
which,  says  he,  appeared  to  much  better  advantage  when 
reprinted  in  later  years,  having  lost  much  of  their  hard, 
dry  character  through  intelligent  printing.  This  throws 
light  on  the  defective  knowledge  here,  at  that  time,  of 
an  important  factor  in  the  production  of  prints.  Mr. 
Sidney  L.  Smith  told  me  that  the  first  "  retroussage  " 
printing  was  done  in  Boston  in  the  early  seventies. 
Estes  and  Lauriat  wanted  to  have  an  etching  by  Rajon 
after  Bonnat  (Italian  children)  printed,  and  turned  over 
the  electro  to  Daniels,  a  well-known  copper-plate  printer. 
He  printed  with  a  "  clean  wipe,"  as  one  does  from  a 
visiting  card  plate.  But  the  original  had  been  "  retrous- 
saged,"  a  method  then  unknown  here  (even  S.  R.  Koehler 
did  not  know  of  it  at  that  time,  added  Mr.  Smith). 
Daniels  fussed  over  the  plate  and  finally  worked  out  the 
matter  by  himself.  Many  of  our  etchers  have  since  then 
been  their  own  printers:  Whistler,  Pennell,  Smillie,  Yale, 
Mielatz,  White  and  others. 

Meanwhile,  at  the  Philadelphia  Centennial  Exhibition 
of  1876,  the  etchings  included  a  number  of  plates  by 


lo  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Americans, — G.  L.  Brown,  Forbes,  Peter  Moran,  S.  J. 
Ferris,  Volkmar  (two  plates  "  done  in  Paris  and  exhibited 
at  the  Salon,"  says  Wray).  The  medal  was  awarded  to 
Peter  Moran,  of  whose  prints  a  dealer  ordered  twelve 
sets  and  published  them  in  a  portfolio.  Publication  of 
etchings  was  undertaken  here*  much  earlier,  however. 
Emil  Seitz  has  been  named,  and  Hitchcock  records  that 
F.  B.  Patterson  (who  secured  plates  and  tools  and  en- 
deavored to  interest  such  artists  as  C.  S.  Reinhart  and 
E.  A.  Abbey)  "  began  to  deal  in  portfolios  of  French 
etchings  soon  after  the  Cadart  exhibition,"  and  issued  a 
portfolio  of  Farrer's  New  York  views  in  1872.  "By 
degrees,"  Hitchcock  adds,  "  print  collectors  began  to  look 
for  modem  etchings." 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  it  appears  that  when  the 
Fairmount  Park  Art  Association  (of  Philadelphia),  hav- 
ing purchased  the  Dying  Lioness,  issued  an  etching  of 
the  group  by  Peter  Moran,  it  was  met  by  most  of  the 
subscribers  with  forcible  disapproval.  They  had  ex- 
pected an  engraving,  asked  "  what  is  an  etching,"  and  gen- 
erally considered  themselves  swindled.  There  was  evi- 
dently a  field  here  for  pioneer  effort  in  improving  the 
state  of  knowledge  of  the  art. 

On  May  2d,  1877,  there  was  held  the  first  meeting 
of  the  New  York  Etching  Club.  On  that  occasion,  three 
men  joined  in  the  production  of  a  little  plate  for  the  in- 
struction of  their  fellow-artists.  James  D.  Smillie,  whose 
knowledge  of  technical  processes  was  unsurpassed  in  this 
country,  "grounded"  the  plate;  R.  Swain  Gifford,  the 
landscape  painter,  drew  the  design;  and  Dr.  Leroy  M. 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  ii 

Yale,  a  physician  and  an  enthusiastic  and  able  etcher, 
worked  the  press.  The  original  plate  is  to-day  In  the 
print  room  of  the  New  York  Public  Library,  and  the 
print  appears  also  as  a  frontispiece  in  J.  Ripley  Hitch- 
cock's "  Etching  in  America."  A  delightful  description 
of  the  production  of  this  little  plate  was  given  by  J.  D. 
Smillie,  who  was  particularly  active  in  promoting  and 
spreading  interest  In  the  art,  in  the  preface  to  the  illus- 
trated catalogue  of  the  club's  first  exhibition.  This 
Initial  show  was  held  in  1882,  and  included  foreign 
work. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  exhibitions  of  the  club,  with 
the  quarto  catalogue  illustrated  with  etchings,  formed  an 
interesting  pendant  to  the  annual  display  of  the  American 
Water  Color  Society  In  the  old  Academy  building  at 
23d  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City.  A  num- 
ber of  artists  responded,  with  discriminating  understand- 
ing, to  the  impulse  for  painter-etching  which  made  Itself 
felt.  In  their  different  individualities  they  emphasized 
the  variety  of  effect  possible  to  the  etching  needle.  Some 
of  them  ran  to  prettiness,  to  sweetness,  to  that  smoothness 
of  statement  and  choice  and  treatment  of  subject  that  find 
a  readier  response  from  the  average  man  than  does  an 
appeal  to  a  higher  standard.  We  need  not  judge  that 
harshly  to-day.  Was  It  natural  on  the  artist's  part,  was 
it  an  Intentional  tempering  of  the  atmosphere  to  the  pros- 
pective purchaser's  taste,  was  It  perhaps  a  necessity  thus 
to  prepare  the  general  public  gradually  for  the  apprecia- 
tion of  good  painter-etching?  At  all  events,  there  re- 
mains so  much  work  of  more  than  creditable  attainment, 


12  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

that  we  can  look  back  on  this  period  with  a  satis- 
faction that  does  not  need  the  apologetic  attitude  of 
patriotism. 

The  movement  was  not  limited  to  New  York.  Or- 
ganized interest  and  effort  in  the  cause  of  painter-etching 
crystallized  around  similar  organizations  in  other  cities. 
The  Boston  Etching  Club,  founded  in  1881,  held  its  first 
exhibition  in  1883,  with  a  catalogue  etched  throughout, 
text  and  illustrations;  among  the  members  were  E.  H. 
Garrett,  F.  T.  Merrill,  F.  G.  Attwood  and  J.  E.  Baker. 
The  Scratchers'  Club,  of  Brooklyn,  born  in  1882,  under 
the  auspices  of  G.  W.  H.  Ritchie,  Walter  M.  Aikman, 
Carleton  Wiggins,  Benjamin  Lander,  Stanley  Middleton, 
Charters  Williamson,  W.  E.  Plympton  and  Edwin  E. 
Rorkey,  lived  for  a  few  years.  (I  saw  a  reference  to  a 
Brooklyn  Etching  Club  in  the  old  New  York  "  Studio  " 
as  late  as  1890.)  "  Sometimes,"  says  Mr.  Aikman,  "  one 
of  the  members  would  have  a  plate  to  '  bite,'  and  our 
friend  George  W.  H.  Ritchie  pulled  the  proofs.  We 
never  had  an  exhibition  for  the  simple  reason  that  we 
never  made  enough  plates  to  hold  one."  Both  Boston 
and  Brooklyn  were  antedated  by  Cincinnati  and  Phila- 
delphia, where  organizations  were  established  in  1880. 
The  Etchers'  Club  in  the  former  city  included  H.  F. 
Farny,  M.  Louise  McLaughlin,  the  ceramic  artist,  who 
wrote  a  little  treatise  on  etching  and  had  an  exhibition 
of  her  work  in  New  York  in  1892;  Emery  H.  Barton, 
Elizabeth  Nourse  and  Caroline  Lord.  The  Philadelphia 
Society  of  Etchers  held  its  first  exhibition  in  the  same 
year   (1882-83)   as  the  New  York  club,  and  an  etching 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  13 

class  formed  in  the  Philadelphia  Sketch  Club  also  did 
much  to  popularize  the  art. 

Wray  notes  with  satisfaction  that  the  Philadelphia 
society  was  founded  by  men  with  a  "  much  more  ad- 
vanced knowledge  of  etching "  than  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  New  York  association.  The  membership  list  in- 
cluded P.  Moran,  S.  J.  Ferris,  Pennell,  Parrish,  B.  Uhle, 
J.  Neely,  Jr.,  W.  J.  Le  Fevre,  Hermann  Faber,  H.  R. 
Poore.  Of  the  catalogue  of  this  first  Philadelphia  show, 
"  devoted  exclusively  to  painters'  etchings,"  there  was 
issued  also  a  special  edition,  quarto  in  size,  with  etched 
illustrations.  It  included  1,070  numbers,  of  which  356 
were  by  American  artists;  the  introduction  was  by  S.  R. 
Koehler,  as  was  the  one  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Boston 
Museum's  exhibit  of  1881.  The  latter  comprised  548 
pieces  by  106  American  artists,  covering  the  country  from 
New  England  to  California,  for  even  San  Francisco  is 
represented  by  some  plates  by  Virgil  Williams  and  pupils. 
Seven  names  stand  for  Cincinnati,  two  for  Chicago  and 
three  for  Indianapolis.  The  list  includes  also  one  plate 
by  George  Inness.  In  the  same  year  (1881)  the  Royal 
Society  of  Painter  Etchers  in  London  held  its  first  ex- 
hibit, to  which  the  American  artists,  Bacher,  Albert  F. 
Bellows,  Church,  Duveneck,  Falconer,  Farrer,  Gifford, 
Kruseman  van  Elten,  M.  N.  and  T.  Moran,  Parrish, 
SmiUie,  Vanderhoof  and  Otto  Weber  contributed.  In- 
terest was  stimulated  also  by  Sir  Seymour  Haden's  lec- 
tures on  etching  during  the  winter  of  1882-3  in  New  York 
and  1883-4  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  other  cities. 

So  the  seed  was  falling  on  receptive  ground.     Much  of 


14  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

the  product  is  forgotten  to-day,  but  much  also  stands  as 
a  noteworthy  reminder  of  this  spreading  interest  in  a 
fascinating  art.  Indeed,  not  a  little  of  the  work  is  quite 
astonishing  in  its  sureness,  considering  the  comparatively 
slight  experience  of  its  authors.  "  In  quick  mastery  of 
detail  and  ready  adaptability,"  said  Hitchcock,  "  it  would 
be  hard  to  surpass  our  etchers;  but  want  of  originality, 
lack  of  the  personal  inspiration  behind  the  executing  in- 
strument, the  timidity  or  presumption  of  inexperience, 
and  want  of  training — in  drawing,  for  example — are  be- 
trayed upon  the  copper  plate  as  easily  as  upon  the  can- 
vas. .  .  .  But  criticism  is  met  by  one  fact.  All  this 
production  of  etchings  has  been  evolved  from  nothing 
within  a  very  few  years.  A  new  field  has  been  opened  in 
American  art."  American  etching  of  the  second  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century  will  have  an  honorable  place  in  the 
history  of  the  art. 

Time  spent  in  looking  over  the  plates  which  painters 
such  as  R.  Swain  Gifford  (who  etched  as  early  as  1864), 
J.  C.  Nicoll,  Samuel  Colman,  Kruseman  van  Elten,  Peter 
Moran,  Thomas  Moran,  J.  A.  S.  Monks,  John  H.  Hill, 
Charles  H.  Miller  and  W.  L.  Lathrop  found  time  to 
produce  is  well  repaid.  A  noteworthy  characteristic  of 
their  work  is  its  sanity,  its  conservative  abstention  from 
undue  striving  after  effect  or  forced  individuality.  Most 
of  it  is  born  of  an  understanding  of  the  limits  of  etching 
— though  not  fully  of  its  resources — and  of  its  peculiar 
nature.  It  offers  such  contrasts  as  the  big,  picturesque 
swing  and  sweep  of  Thomas  Moran's  Gate  of  Venice, 
the  light  grace  of  F.   S.   Church,  the  finished  effect  of 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  15 

Kruseman  van  Elten  and  the  few  lines  and  scratches  of 
C.  H.  Miller's  A  Sun  Shower.  In  the  last  the  impression 
of  an  effect  is  gained  in  some  way  shorter  even  than  the 
short-hand  method  of  J.  B.  Jongkind,  the  Dutch  etcher. 
In  such  a  case,  much  depends  on  the  printing;  clean-wiped, 
such  an  etching  would  be  a  mere  skeleton. 

There  was,  too,  a  group  of  men  who  devoted  them- 
selves more  or  less  exclusively,  even  if  only  for  the  time 
being,  to  etching,  or  who,  at  least,  were  best  known  in 
their  capacity  as  etchers.  Stephen  Parrish  (now  paint- 
ing) ,  whom  Hamerton  characterized  as  "  sincere  and 
straightforward,"  soon  emancipated  himself  from  what- 
ever influence  of  Appian  has  been  found  in  his  earliest 
works.  His  power  developed  rapidly,  and  he  executed 
eighty-six  plates  in  the  years  1879-83.  Charles  A.  Piatt 
(since  turned  to  landscape  gardening),  whose  deft  sure- 
ness  and  judicious  and  delicate  suggestion  were  shown 
especially  in  his  treatment  of  water,  brings  to  mind  such 
masters  of  that  specialty  as  Haden  and  Storm  van's 
Gravesande.  A  catalogue  of  Piatt's  plates  was  prepared 
by  Richard  A.  Rice  (1889),  and  of  other  etchers  there 
are  helpful  dealers'  exhibition  catalogues  in  the  case  of 
Parrish  (1886),  Peter  Moran  (1888)  and  Thomas  and 
Mary  N.  Moran  (1889),  and  museum  or  society  exhibi- 
tion catalogues  in  the  case  of  J.  D.  Smillie,  Blum,  Pennell, 
Getchell  and  others,  and  a  manuscript  list  (1906,  in  the 
New  York  Public  Library)   in  that  of  Yale. 

James  D.  Smillie  was,  until  his  death  in  19 10,  a  living 
link  between  those  days  and  the  present,  and  there  are 
others  still  etching  to-day.     Charles  A.  Vanderhoof,  an 


1 6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

excellent  original  etcher;  Thomas  R.  Manley,  who  found 
interest  in  such  subjects  as  the  Hackensack  meadows,  and 
could  give  completeness  of  pictorial  effect  without  insist- 
ence on  detail;  and  Alexander  Schilling,  Joseph  Pennell 
and  C.  F.  W.  Mielatz.  Other  names  come  to  mind: 
W.  C.  Bauer,  W.  Goodrich  Beal,  Prosper  L.  Senat, 
Robert  F.  Bloodgood,  Carlton  T.  Chapman.  More  yet 
can  be  gleaned  from  the  Boston  (1881)  and  Philadelphia 
(1882)  exhibition  catalogues  or  in  Will  Jenkins's  Amer- 
ican chapter  in  Charles  Holme's  "  Modern  Etching  and 
Engraving"  (New  York,  1902);  not  all,  however,  can 
be  said  to  have  enriched  American  etching  by  noteworthy 
additions. 

A  great  variety  of  method  and  manner  and  viewpoint 
is  offered  in  the  considerable  product  of  those  days. 

The  bulk  of  the  really  noteworthy  work  was  in  land- 
scape. Figures  appear  much  less  frequently  and  animal 
pieces  yet  more  rarely.  Water  always  had  a  certain  at- 
tractiveness on  account  of  its  effects  of  reflection  and 
movement.  River  and  harbor  scenes  were  depicted  by 
Farrer,  Piatt  and  others.  Coast  scenes,  similarly  bring- 
ing water  and  land  into  juxtaposition,  likewise  occasionally 
held  the  attention  of  etchers, — Pennell,  Mielatz,  Moran, 
Parrish.  J.  C.  NicoU  laid  more  weight  on  the  water 
itself,  as,  for  example,  in  his  In  the  Harbor.  In  such  a 
plate,  or  in  the  two  or  three  attempts  by  M.  F.  H.  de 
Haas,  we  get  more  of  the  feeling  for,  and  understanding 
of,  the  sea.  Koehler  records  promising  beginnings  in  the 
same  direction  by  Walter  F.  Lanfil,  without  farther 
results. 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  17 

Among  those  who  paid  some  attention  to  figure  sub- 
jects in  etching  were  J.  J.  Calahan,  J.  Fagan,  F.  M. 
Gregory,  W.  H.  Shelton,  J.  W.  Beatty,  Joseph  Lauber, 
H.  N.  Hyneman,  L.  Moran,  F.  W.  Freer.  All  working 
with  intelligent  craftsmanship,  but  usually  not  in  the  spirit 
of  painter-etching,  striving  for  a  completeness  of  effect 
that  gives  their  work  the  appearance  of  having  been  done 
after  paintings.  Many  of  the  artists  of  the  day,  in  fact, 
were  drawn  to  reproductive  etching,  even  Winslow  Homer 
(Saved  and  The  Life  Line),  whom  one  would  have  ex- 
pected to  develop  into  a  true  painter-etcher.  Alfred 
Brennan,  a  deft  pen-draughtsman,  showed  picturesque 
qualities.  I.  M.  Gaugengigl  paraphrased  some  of  his 
paintings  of  eighteenth  century  subjects  in  a  free,  swing- 
ing style.  F.  S.  Church  repeated  in  his  plates  the  world 
of  mermaids,  nymphs,  captive  and  love-sick  lions  and  what 
not  of  his  paintings,  with  a  happy  acceptation  of  appro- 
priate limits,  in  a  light,  summary,  merely  indicating  man- 
ner in  harmony  with  the  playful  spirit  of  his  subjects. 
John  Ames  Mitchell,  who  was  originally  an  architect  and 
subsequently  became  editor  of  "  Life,"  did  some  plates, 
mostly  in  Paris,  among  them  a  series  of  ten,  A  travers 
I'Exposition  i8y8,  and  a  scene  on  the  stage  of  the  Paris 
opera  house,  all  in  a  lively,  graceful  style,  and  with  a  touch 
of  humor,  qualities  which  we  find  later  in  his  pen-sketches 
for  "  Life." 

Expression  of  American  life  was  practically  absent  in 
the  work  of  our  figure  etchers,  if  we  except  reproductive 
plates  such  as  those  in  which  Thomas  Hovenden  so  well 
copied  his  bits  of  negro  character  {Dem  was  good  old 


i8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Times,  etc.),  or  those  in  which  T.  W.  Wood  attempted 
to  translate  his  own  paintings. 

Animal  subjects  were  even  less  frequently  to  be  met 
with.  One  thinks  naturally  of  the  few  plates  by  J.  Fox- 
croft  Cole,  and  of  the  sheep-pieces  by  J.  A.  S.  Monks. 
Most  noteworthy  were  the  cattle-pieces  of  Peter  Moran, 
in  which  completeness  of  effect  is  joined  to  a  free  and 
vigorous  line,  so  that  one  does  not  get  the  impression  of 
an  attempt  to  imitate  engraver-like  finish.  In  them,  elab- 
oration is  joined  to  the  "  discretion  which  knows  where 
to  stop,"  wrote  Mrs.  Schuyler  Van  Rensselaer,  who 
added  that  they  showed  no  "  finish  "  for  the  mere  sake 
of  finishing.  Moran  remained  the  artist-etcher,  though 
occasionally  succumbing,  like  Parrish  and  others,  to  the 
temptation  of  the  time  and  of  the  publishers,  by  doing 
very  large  plates  for  wall  decoration.  While  these  large 
framing-prints  are  good  of  their  kind,  his  smaller  ones 
will  remain  the  most  valuable. 

Quantitatively,  as  already  said,  it  is  in  pure  landscape 
etching  that  the  greatest  amount  of  noteworthy  effort 
appears,  and  with  a  refreshing  understanding  of  the  art 
and  a  wide  range  of  personal  expression.  There  is  the 
"  nervous  vitality  "  of  Thomas  Moran,  a  master  of  tech- 
nical aids  to  serve  his  purpose.  His  prints  vary  from 
small  ones  in  which  effects  are  simply  indicated,  to  large 
ones  carried  out  in  complete  reproduction  of  paintings  by 
himself  and  others.  All  are  marked,  however,  by  bold- 
ness in  conception  and  vigor  in  execution,  and,  as  Koehler 
puts  it,  "  with  a  successful  indication  of  color  effect." 

There  is  the  more  serene  temperament  of  H.  D.  Kruse- 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  19 

man  van  Elten,  with  a  happy  choice  of  subjects  likely 
to  be  popular  {Twilight  on  the  Hoiisatonic  et  al.)  skil- 
fully presented  with  a  disdain  of  mere  suggestion  that 
leaves  little  to  the  imagination  of  the  beholder.  This 
last  quality  is  apparent  also  in  the  painstaking  minuteness, 
accentuated  by  dry  printing,  of  John  H.  Hill,  among 
whose  best  plates  is  one  after  his  father,  John  W.  Hill,  a 
happy  rendering  of  a  placid  landscape,  with  cattle  fording 
a  stream.  B.  Lander,  too,  was  devoted  to  detail  and 
tone. 

Again,  there  is  the  richness  of  color  in  Samuel  Colman's 
characteristically  individual  scenes,  original  in  conception, 
usually  etched  In  strong  lines  with  dry-pointed  tones,  and 
done  in  an  artistic  spirit  that  stimulates  the  imagination. 
Like  Colman,  R.  Swain  Gifford  was  a  true  painter-etcher. 
While  attracted  by  motives  In  the  Orient,  Venice  and 
Holland,  he  made  his  strongest  appeal  in  the  expression 
of  the  mood  of  the  apparently  monotonous  scenery  of  the 
New  England  coast.  He  attained  his  effect  with  few 
lines,  lightly  yet  firmly  set  down. 

James  D.  Smillie,  a  master  of  technical  media,  had  to 
counteract  the  influence  of  years  of  service  in  the  cause  of 
line-engraving,  with  its  formality,  and  of  commissions  to 
do  reproductive  work  not  always  worthy  of  his  powers. 
As  I  remember  him,  even  to  the  end  of  his  long  and 
useful  life  he  was  his  own  severest  critic.  And  whenever 
he  had  the  opportunity  to  employ  his  mastery  of  etching, 
or  dry  point,  or  aquatint  or  mezzotint  In  the  production 
of  a  plate  done  con  amove,  absolutely  for  Its  own  sake, 
the  result  was  apt  to  be  a  joy  to  the  eye.     One  may  single 


20  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

out,  for  example,  his  flower-pieces,  drawn  in  dry  point 
directly  from  nature,  among  them  a  bunch  of  pansies  of 
remarkable  variety  and  gradation. 

Pennell,  referred  to  in  his  early  days  as  "  the  Meryon  of 
Philadelphia,"  is  known  particularly  as  an  etcher  of  city 
views,  a  draughtsman  of  astounding  sureness  of  eye  and 
hand.  He  used  and  is  using  his  art  with  quick  resource- 
fulness, and  with  a  simplicity  and  directness  born  of  the 
ability,  so  necessary  in  etching,  to  select,  and  resulting  in 
what  some  one,  in  his  case,  has  called  a  "  wise  reticence  in 
line."  A  well-illustrated  monograph  on  his  art,  by  the 
present  writer,  was  published  in  Vienna  in  19  lo.  Mielatz, 
like  Pennell,  is  identified  closely  with  the  beauty  and  in- 
terest and  picturesque  qualities  of  the  city,  especially  of 
New  York  City.  These,  often  unnoticed,  his  artist's  eye 
sees  clearly  and  his  hand  makes  clear  to  us,  with  frequently 
a  freshness  of  view  that  invests  them  with  the  interest  of 
a  new  scene.  His  versatility  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
while  Huneker  well  said  of  him,  "  His  line  is  firm, 
virile,  lean,  even  ascetic,  rather  than  rich  or  luxurious," 
and  concluded  that  he  was  therefore  at  his  happiest  in 
architecture,  Mielatz  was  at  about  the  same  time  doing  his 
series  of  views  at  Georgian  Court,  Lakewood,  which  are 
noteworthy  for  vivacity  and  richness. 

A  large  proportion  of  all  these  artists  worked  in  pure 
etching,  but  other  aids  were  occasionally  resorted  to. 
Thomas  Moran's  command  of  such  helps  has  been  referred 
to.  His  wife,  Mary  Nimmo  Moran,  used  the  roulette 
in  various  plates,  and  "  Scotch  stone  "  (a  substance  used 
to   reduce  plates)    in    Twilight,   Easthampton.     Parrish 


^^       y^i  ^^i  iss-i  r..v«'  1^44.  i   ^  '^jii/ 


.■THRATpIvgC; 


if: 


L'^x^y, 


Courtesy  of  K.  Keppel  A  Co. 


Theatre  Royal,  Haymarket 
Etching  by  Joseph  Pennell 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  21 

sometimes  roughened  his  plate  by  acid  or  other  means, 
S.  J.  Ferris  employed  roulette  and  stipple,  and  Road  to 
the  Beach,  by  C.  F.  W.  Mielatz,  an  indefatigable  ex- 
perimenter In  technical  processes,  is  executed  in  roulette, 
aquatint  and  soft-ground  etching.  The  last-named  process 
has  been  employed  by  J.  D.  Smillie,  C.  A.  Vanderhoof, 
Henry  Farrer  (who  showed  a  small  plate  at  the  New 
York  Etching  Club  in  1888),  Kruseman  van  Elten,  and 
more  recently  by  Mary  Cassatt,  A.  T,  Millar,  George 
Senseney,  or  by  Mielatz,  again,  as  in  his  Pell  Street  Bal- 
cony, marked  by  what  Huneker  called  "  his  delicate  sense 
of  color  sparingly  indulged  in."  The  somewhat  unfortu- 
nate effect  of  double  printing  in  the  sky  of  J.  C.  NIcoll's 
In  the  Harbor  is  caused  by  the  employment  of  a  double 
needle,  and  the  late  Dr.  Yale  told  me  that  he  occasionally 
used  a  half-dozen  or  so  of  needles  set  In  one  handle.  The 
use  of  such  short  cuts  is  always  of  questionable  appropri- 
ateness. 

Stiil  another  noteworthy  factor  in  the  production  of 
most  of  these  men  is  their  efficiency  as  printers.  Smillie 
was  an  excellent  printer;  so  was  Moran,  whose  plates  are 
said  to  have  given  best  results  when  he  did  the  printing 
himself.  Parrlsh  knew  how  to  get  effects  In  printing, 
often  leaving  the  sky  blank,  for  example.  Pennell  has 
often  been  his  own  printer,  and  Mielatz  is  an  expert  at 
the  press.  Whistler's  attention  to  this  Important  part  of 
the  etcher's  equipment  Is  well  known;  the  penciled  butter- 
fly and  "  imp  "  is  a  familiar  addition  to  proofs  of  his 
plates,  and  some  of  the  latest  photographs  taken  of  him 
show  him  at  the  press.     And  not  a  few  of  the  younger 


22  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

men  who  will  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter  have 
realized  the  importance  of  the  printer's  art  and  have  prac- 
tised it  successfully. 

The  fair  sex  contributed  a  notably  large  proportion  of 
our  etchers.  Not  a  few  of  them  worked  in  a  more 
serious  spirit  than  that  which  may  have  inspired  Hood 
when  he  wrote  in  his  lines  on  the  "  needlework  art  "  of 
etching : 

"  It  scarce  seems  a  ladylike  art  that  begins 
With  a  scratching  and  ends  with  a  biting." 

The  exhibitors  at  the  New  York  Club  and  elsewhere 
included  a  number  of  women.  Their  work  was  also 
shown  separately  at  the  Boston  Museum  in  1887,  and 
at  the  Union  League  Club,  New  York  City,  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  with  a  catalogue  for  which  Mrs.  M.  G.  Van 
Rensselaer  wrote  an  interesting  introduction.  Of  this 
number  were  Miss  Cole  (sister  of  Thomas),  who  experi- 
mented with  the  etching  needle  as  early  as  1844,  Eliza 
Greatorex  (another  artist  who  has  delineated  the  pictur- 
esque side  of  New  York  City  for  us),  Mrs.  Anna  Lea 
Merritt  (one  of  our  few  etchers  of  figure  subjects),  Mrs. 
E.  L.  Pierce  Getchell,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Twachtman  ("whose 
few  little  plates  are  treated  with  surprising  freedom  and 
lightness,"  wrote  S.  R.  Koehler),  Ellen  Oakford,  Gabri- 
elle  D.  Clements,  Blanche  Dillaye,  Margaret  W.  Lesley 
(now  Mrs.  H,  K.  Bush-Brown),  Mary  Cassatt  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Nimmo  Moran.  The  best  of  their  work  deserves 
praise  unmodified  by  any  reference  to  sex  and  supposed 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  23 

weakness,  as  the  present  writer  pointed  out  in  an  article 
on  "  Some  Women  Etchers  "  in  "  Scribner's  Magazine  " 
for  December,   1909. 

Mrs.  Moran,  a  virile  talent,  with  all  her  energetic  em- 
phasis and  bold  directness,  did  not  lose  sight  of  the 
pictorial  effect  which  occupied  her  primarily.  Generally, 
her  etchings  are  marked  by  energetic  emphasis  rather  than 
delicacy  or  smoothness,  yet  Autumn,  Edge  of  Georgica 
Pond,  Easthampton,  is  of  a  sunny  lightness. 

Miss  Mary  Cassatt  has  helped  us  to  see  the  beauty  in 
the  relation  between  mother  and  child  without  calling  in 
the  adventitious  aid  of  silly  prettiness  or  saccharine  senti- 
mentality. Her  dry  points,  with  their  wise  restraint  of 
linear  expression,  robust  in  method  and  sensitive  in  feel- 
ing, are  among  the  best  work  produced  in  this  field  by 
Americans.  She  lives  in  France,  where  she  was  first  ap- 
preciated, and  where  until  quite  recently  she  was  under- 
stood better,  probably,  than  in  her  native  land. 

While  this  wide-spreading  movement,  centering  about 
the  associations  mentioned,  was  witnessed  here,  Whistler 
had  found  Venice.  His  Venice,  a  city  of  picturesque  bits 
of  canal,  of  inviting  doorways  and  cool  arches,  light 
balconies  and  graceful  architectural  ornament.  Such  he 
showed  her  in  a  series  of  delightfully  airy  and  sunny  im- 
pressions of  this  Queen  of  the  Adriatic  as  she  appears  to- 
day, without  any  paraphernalia  of  ducal  grandeur  and 
civic  or  ecclesiastical  display  and  circumstance  which  lent 
its  pomp  to  the  Venetian  scenes  of  quattrocento  or  cinque- 
cento  painters  such  as  the  Bellinis.  Interest  does  not 
center  about  any  story  concerned  with  the  human  figures 


24  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

in  his  etchings;  they  simply  take  their  place  as  parts  of 
the  scene.  With  Whistler  in  Venice  were  Frank  Duve- 
neck,  Otto  Bacher,  Theodore  M.  Wendel  and  others, 
forming  a  little  circle  of  American  artists.  Charles  A. 
Corwin,  George  E.  Hopkins  and  H.  Rosenberg,  in  Italy 
at  about  the  same  time,  produced  only  isolated  plates, 
akin  to  each  other  in  manner  and  subject.  The  Whistler 
influence  has  been  felt  to  most  recent  times,  even  in  the 
work  of  artists  who  subsequently  assimilated  it.  Bacher 
has  left  an  interesting  record  of  those  days  in  his  book 
"With  Whistler  in  Venice"  (New  York,  1908),  and 
the  sale  of  his  collection  after  his  death  (191a)  brought 
to  light  some  plates  by  Americans  whose  work  is  not 
often  seen:  Duveneck,  of  course,  but  also  Miss  Arm- 
strong, S.  L.  Wenban  and  Wendel  (whose  style  has  been 
characterized  as  "delicate  and  charming"). 

Duveneck  did  three  plates  of  the  Ducal  Palace,  Riva, 
so  much  in  Whistler's  manner  that  they  were  actually 
taken  for  that  artist's  work.  His  only  other  plate  ex- 
hibited was  Desdemona's  House  (1881), — so  said  Koeh- 
ler,  but,  at  all  events,  the  catalogue  of  the  Bacher  sale 
included  nine  plates  by  Duveneck  beside  the  three  "  Ducal 
Palace,  Riva  "  etchings.  Wenban,  an  Ohio  artist  who 
did  much  of  his  work  in  Munich,  and  whose  somewhat 
Haden-like  A  Bavarian  Forest  is  said  to  have  won  high 
praise  at  the  Salon,  was  addicted  to  detail,  yet  broad  in 
manner.  His  work  offers  such  contrasts  as  his  Rushing 
Brook,  of  a  Klinger-like  hardness  and  precision,  and  the 
remarkably  free  and  airy  Brook  in  Winter. 

Bacher  himself  executed  a  number  of  etchings  of  un- 


Courtesy  of  F.  Keppel  A  Co. 


Summer  at  Easthampton 
Etching  by  Mrs.  Mary  Nimmo  Moran 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  25 

usual  force,  concerning  which  I  recall  two  critical  com- 
ments. Seymour  Haden  said  of  the  Venice  set:  "The 
whole  of  it,  accessories  and  all,  evinces  a  strong  artistic 
feeling.  Bold  and  painter-like  treatment  characterizes  it 
throughout.  S.  R.  Koehler,  writing  of  the  Bavarian 
plates,  notes  that  it  was  characteristic  of  Bacher  that  he 
"  passed  unmoved  the  Walhalla  .  .  .  and  then  stopped 
to  make  a  loving  study  of  a  rickety  old  wooden  bridge." 
Koehler  adds,  too,  that  later,  under  the  influence  of 
Whistler,  Bacher's  manner  "  o'erleaped  itself  and  degen- 
erated into  wildness.  And  yet  it  is  impossible  to  close 
oneself  against  the  telling  effect  of  these  plates.  A  stormy 
life  surges  in  them." 

On  the  other  hand,  J.  Alden  Weir  went  his  own  ex- 
perimental way  in  a  number  of  interesting  and  striking 
landscapes  and  some  portraits.  An  article  in  the 
"  Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts  "  for  September,  191 1,  holds  out 
the  prospect  of  a  return  to  etching  on  his  part.  John 
H.  Twachtman  echoed  the  delicate  impressions  of  evanes- 
cent light  and  color  effects  of  his  paintings  in  a  few  etch- 
ings. Robert  F.  Blum  produced  some  twenty  plates, 
among  them  his  own  portrait  and  The  Hag,  of  a  peculiar 
richness  and  snap,  all  the  more  interesting  as  he  discrim- 
inatingly avoided  the  transference  of  the  Fortuny  method 
of  his  pen-and-inks  to  the  copper,  a  tendency  all  too 
natural  for  the  illustrator.  Blum  did  one  plate,  by  the 
way  {The  Modern  Etcher,  1883:  a  portrait  of  W.  M. 
Chase,  who  himself  did  a  Jester  and  two  or  three  other 
plates),  by  a  process  of  photographing  a  pen-and-ink 
drawing  on  to  a  specially  prepared  ground.     The  result 


26  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

was  a  pen-and-ink  drawing  rather  than  an  etching.  It  is 
not  exactly  easy  to  clearly  define  the  difference.  Its  appre- 
ciation is  based  on  recognition  of  the  old  truth  that 
the  nature  of  the  medium  imposes  its  character  and 
its  limits  on  the  result,  and  that  the  etched  reproduc- 
tion of  a  pen-and-ink  drawing  somehow  does  not  have 
the  same  quality  as  an  etching  produced  in  the  usual 
way. 

There  was,  in  all  that  is  here  recorded,  undoubtedly 
very  much  disinterested  enthusiasm  for  an  art  that  is  pecu- 
liarly fitted  for  a  certain  intimate  expression.  The  move- 
ment made  up  of  all  these  individual  efforts  found  support 
in  the  "American  Art  Review,"  which  furthered  the  cause 
of  etching  in  the  same  conspicuous  and  discriminating 
manner  as  Hamerton's  *'  Portfolio  "  in  London.  Edited 
by  that  sapient  German,  Sylvester  Rosa  Koehler,  it  was 
one  of  the  most  noteworthy  and  distinguished  art  periodi- 
cals we  ever  had.  It  was  issued  at  Boston  during  1880- 
82,  and  before  effacing  itself  with  a  graceful  valedictory 
it  published  etchings  (painter-etchings,  generally)  by  a 
number  of  American  artists,  with  critical  appreciations  by 
Koehler,  and  a  catalogue,  in  each  case,  of  the  artist's  work. 
Koehler's  effective  agitation,  by  the  way,  included  also  a 
large  volume  on  etching  in  general  (New  York,  1885), 
and  was  carried  on  likewise  by  word  of  mouth.  While 
he  was  delivering  a  lecture  on  etching  at  the  Gotham  Art 
Students'  rooms  in  New  York  City,  Shirlaw  roughly 
sketched  his  portrait  on  a  plate  which,  I  understand,  was 
bitten  and  printed  from  in  the  course  of  the  address. 
Two  impressions  form  part  of  the  Avery  collection  in 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  27 

the  New  York  Public  Library,  one  marked  in  pencil: 
'*  Nov.  27,  '85,  2d  impression  at  Mr.  Koehler's  lecture 
on  etching,  Gotham  Art  Student  Rooms." 

The  "  American  Art  Review  "  went  out  of  existence, 
but  the  seed  was  sown,  and  a  number  of  sumptuous  vol- 
umes, published  in  limited  editions,  and  often  in  various 
forms  to  suit  different  pocketbooks  (e.g.,  with  "  vellum 
proofs"  at  $100,  "satin  proofs"  at  $50  and  "Japan 
proofs  "  at  $35,  all  three  with  "  remarques  " — "  re- 
marques  "  must  have  had  a  rare  attraction  for  the  budding 
amateur — and  "  regular  impressions  on  etching  paper  at 
$12.50).  There  were  "Original  Etchings  by  American 
Artists"  (1884),  and  "American  Etchings"  (1886), 
both  with  text  by  S.  R.  Koehler;  "  Recent  American  Etch- 
ings "  (1885),  "  Notable  Etchings  by  American  Artists  " 
(1886) ,  and  "  Representative  Etchings  by  Artists  of  To- 
day in  America  "  ( 1887),  all  three  with  text  by  J.  Ripley 
W.  Hitchcock;  "Some  Modern  Etchings"  (1886)  ;  and 
"Famous  Etchers"  (1889).  Among  the  artists  repre- 
sented in  these  pubhcations  were  Bacher,  Blum,  James  J. 
Calahan,  J.  Wells  Champney,  Church,  Gabrielle  D.  Clem- 
ents, J.  F.  Cole,  Samuel  Colman,  Elliott  Daingerfield,  Far- 
rer,  J.  L.  G.  and  S.  J.  Ferris,  F.  W.  Freer,  E.  H.  Garrett, 
L  M.  Gaugengigl,  R.  S.  Gifford,  F.  M.  Gregory,  M.  F.  H. 
de  Haas,  Hamilton  Hamilton,  Wm.  St.  John  Harper, 
Herman  H.  Hyneman,  James  S.  King,  H.  D.  Kruseman 
van  Elten,  Katherine  Levin,  Anna  L.  Merritt,  Mielatz, 
Monks,  Mrs.  M.  N.,  Peter  and  Thomas  Moran,  J.  C. 
Nicoll,  Parrish,  Pennell,  Piatt,  Joseph  F.  Sabin,  Walter 
Satterlee,  S.  A.  Schoff,  W.  H.  Shelton,  J.  D.  and  George 


28  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

H.  Smillie,  Charles  Volkmar,  Frank  Waller,  T.  W.  Wood 
and  L.  M.  Yale. 

Beside  all  the  many  names  mentioned  in  connection  with 
what  I  may  call  this  "  New  York  Etching  Club  period," 
there  are  still  a  considerable  number  more  to  be  found  in 
the  catalogues  of  the  Boston  (1881)  and  Philadelphia 
(1882)  shows, — ^W.  C.  Bauer,  Frank  W.  Benson,  A.  H. 
Bicknell,  C.  H.  Eaton,  John  H.  Niemeyer,  William  Sar- 
tain  and  many  others.  Some  idea  may  thus  be  formed 
of  the  remarkable  extent  to  which  etching  was  taken  up 
by  American  artists  in  those  days.  It  was  not  all  first- 
class  work  that  they  produced,  not  all  done  in  the  true 
etcher's  spirit,  but  all  illustrating,  even  by  the  surprising 
number  of  names,  the  rapid  rise  of  interest  among  the 
public,  the  creation  of  a  market. 

Market  suggests  dealer,  and  the  full  record  of  etch- 
ing in  this  country  cannot  be  found,  the  complete  list  of 
those  who  practised  the  art  in  good,  bad  or  indifferent 
manner  cannot  be  drawn  up,  without  referring  also  to  the 
catalogues  of  certain  print  dealers.  Such,  for  example, 
as  Klackner's  "American  Etchings"  (New  York,  1888). 
In  this  latter,  beside  names  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this 
chapter,  we  find  F.  A.  Bicknell,  A.  F.  Bunner,  M.  J. 
Burns,  C.  C.  Curran,  Edward  Loyal  Field,  O.  H.  von 
Gottschalk,  George  R.  Halm,  Louis  K.  Harlow,  F.  Leo 
Hunter,  Daniel  Kotz,  C.  Morgan  Mcllhenny,  E.  F. 
Miller,  Roland  Rood,  H.  M.  Rosenberg,  C.  H.  Wood- 
bury  and  Theodore  Wust.  H.  Bolton  Jones  (Winter), 
Robert  V.  W.  Sewell  {Canal  Houses,  Dordrecht),  Car- 
roll Beckwith  and  R.  C.  Minor  are  still  others  who  tried 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  29 

their  hands  at  etching,  and  at  the  exhibition  of  the  New 
York  Etching  Club,  as  late  as  1893,  there  appeared  work 
by  Robertson  K.  Mygatt,  R.  Cleveland  Coxe  and  Leigh 
Hunt. 

About  this  time  also  was  formed  the  *'  Society  of  Amer- 
ican Etchers,"  which  had  for  its  object:  "  First,  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  art  of  etching;  and  second,  the  limitation  of 
editions;  every  proof  being  guaranteed  by  the  stamp  of 
the  Society."  J.  D.  Waring  was  publisher  for  the  Society, 
and  Piatt,  Nicoll  and  Mrs.  Moran  were  represented  in 
the  Society's  exhibition  in  November,  1888. 

There  were  even  some  incursions  into  the  field  of  book- 
illustration.  Samuel  Colman  did  plates  for  Alice  Durand 
Field's  "Palermo"  (1885),  and  Dean  Sage's  "The 
Ristigouche  and  its  Salmon  Fishing  "  (Edinburgh,  1888) 
contained  etchings  by  Piatt,  Henry  Sandham  and  Mrs. 
A.  L.  Merritt.  The  last-named  also  executed  some  plates 
for  a  volume  on  her  deceased  husband,  and  in  a  book- 
seller's catalogue  I  came  across  editions  of  Goethe's 
"Faust"  (1888)  and  "Hermann  and  Dorothea" 
(1889),  both  issued  in  Philadelphia,  with  etchings  by 
Hermann  Faber.  Recent  publications  of  the  Bibliophile 
Society  of  Boston  have  contained  etched  portraits  by 
W.  H.  W.  Bicknell  and  James  Fagan. 

Etching  has  also  been  called  to  the  service  of  antiqua- 
rianlsm,  of  the  interest  in  local  and  national  history.  Wil- 
liam Sartain  etched  Fraunces's  Tavern  for  the  Sons  of 
the  Revolution,  W.  H.  Wallace  and  S.  Hollyer  illustrated 
New  York  City  and  Robert  Shaw  delineated,  for  the 
Colonial  Society  of  America,  buildings  and  places  promi- 


30  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

nently  identified  with  the  colonial  history  of  our 
country. 

There  was  a  certain  use  of  etching  for  portraiture  also. 
It  had  generally  been  used  for  that  purpose  as  a  prelim- 
inary to  line-engraving,  but  in  certain  instances,  as  by 
H.  B.  Hall  (in  the  seventies),  portraits  were  done  en- 
tirely in  etching.  The  freedom  of  the  etched  plate  as 
compared  with  the  formality  of  the  steel-engraving,  made 
its  appeal,  and  was  exemplified  by  some  artists.  By  Max 
Rosenthal  and  his  son  Albert,  who  did  a  series  of  por- 
traits of  American  historical  characters;  by  S.  Hollyer; 
and  with  particular  sureness  of  hand  and  richness  of  effect 
by  S.  A.  Schoff,  who  signed  portraits  of  Joseph  Rodman 
Drake,  Hawthorne  and  wife,  etc.  Gustav  Kruell  and 
F.  S.  King,  the  wood-engravers,  each  made  at  least  one 
effort  with  needle  and  acid,  the  former  in  a  bust  of  George 
W.  Curtis,  the  latter  in  one  of  Alexander  Hamilton. 
Their  colleague,  Thomas  Johnson,  etched  a  number  of 
portraits,  varying  somewhat  in  merit,  but  including  the 
characteristic  ones  of  Lincoln,  Walt  Whitman  (the  one 
with  the  hat) ,  Cardinal  Manning  and  the  master  printer, 
Theo.  L.  De  Vinne.  He  also  did  one  of  S.  P.  Avery, 
which  a  number  of  the  latter's  friends  presented  to  him 
on  his  eighty-first  birthday.  In  our  day,  Jacques  Reich 
has  issued  a  number  of  carefully  executed  portraits  of 
American  statesmen,  Washington,  Jefferson,  Franklin, 
Webster,  Lincoln,  Cleveland,  McKinley  among  the  num- 
ber. S.  L.  Smith,  too,  has  signed  some  portraits,  in- 
cluding one  of  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

The  remarkable  amount  of  work  produced  in  the  period 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  31 

extending  from  the  early  seventies  to  the  early  nineties, 
naturally  implied  public  support,  but  the  cause  of  painter- 
etching  suffered  in  the  end.  Commercial  possibilities  be- 
came apparent  and  were  exploited.  Production,  also,  was 
cheapened.  As  the  "  Sun  "  pointed  out  in  1894,  the  pub- 
lishers of  reproductive  etchings  killed  the  goose  that  laid 
the  golden  eggs;  the  demand  was  large,  and  slow,  artistic 
printing  was  replaced  by  quicker  and  cheaper  methods. 

The  story  picture's  appeal  apparently  also  did  its  work. 
Not  that  I  would  warm  up  the  old  arguments  regarding 
art  for  art's  sake.  We  should  all  of  us  in  time  realize 
that  we  cannot  ever  get  away  entirely  from  the  subject- 
matter  in  the  work  of  art.  The  artist  cannot  appeal  by 
technique  alone,  if  that  technique  be  a  mere  parade  of 
its  self-sufficient  perfection,  or  indeed  the  result  of  school- 
acquired  deftness  barren  of  ideas,  if  it  express  no  individu- 
ality, no  mood,  no  sentiment,  no  lesson,  no  moral.  But 
the  cheaply  effective  sentimentality  which  is  usually  most 
sure  of  general  applause  has  as  its  almost  inevitable  con- 
comitants a  paucity  of  ideas  worth  while,  a  colorless  artis- 
tic personality,  a  slickness  of  manipulation  that  conceals 
its  essential  weakness.  And  such  a  combination  is  of  a 
depressing  effect  on  art. 

True  as  this  all  is,  in  a  general  way,  it  sounds  rather 
ungracious  as  an  introduction  to  a  paragraph  on  repro- 
ductive etching.  For  we  had  clever  men  who  took  up  this 
branch  of  art,  men  of  adaptative  talent  who  rendered  into 
black-and-white  the  canvases  of  celebrated  artists — or  such 
as  would  be  sure  to  bring  returns.  For  the  paintings  were 
not  always  worthy  of  the  talent  exercised  in  their  repro- 


32  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

duction,  which  the  "  Curio "  pointed  out  as  early  as 
November,  1887.  There's  the  rub,  the  element  of  weak- 
ness— or  at  least  a  very  considerable  factor — through 
which  this  art  lapsed,  after  its  day  of  success,  of  rich 
harvest  for  publisher  and  artist.  The  eternal  law  of 
the  fitness  of  things  is  ever  applicable.  The  virtue  of 
appropriateness  is  so  often  lost  to  view.  It  seems  sad 
to  see  decided  ability  employed  in  putting  on  copper 
hyper-sentimental  presentation  of  home  life  ideals  and 
other  quite  morally  inoffensive  pictorial  stories  and  tracts, 
making  an  appeal  wholly  on  the  basis  of  the  story.  And, 
on  the  other  hand,  third  or  fourth  rate  talent  might 
masquerade  in  the  guise  of  originality  in  "  painter-etch- 
ings "  without  any  quality  of  personality  or  technique 
worth  talking  about. 

Reproductive  etching,  employed  in  the  proper  spirit, 
on  worthy  work,  was  its  own  best  justification.  It  is, 
indeed,  as  Koehler,  Wray,  and  no  doubt  many  others 
have  pointed  out,  an  unfortunate  popular  prejudice  which 
rejected  any  reproductive  work  while  accepting  inferior 
productions  because  they  were  "  painter-etchings." 

Robert  W.  Weir's  plan  to  reproduce  various  old  pic- 
tures in  the  possession  of  New  Yorkers,  in  etching,  as 
early  as  1820,  has  been  referred  to.  It  was  not  repeated 
until  half-a-century  later. 

In  1875  S.  J.  Ferris,  a  careful  worker,  who  stippled 
and  rouletted  to  get  tone  and  color,  etched  a  head  after 
Fortuny  and  two  plates  after  Knaus.  The  success  en- 
couraged the  publisher  to  order  The  Chariot  Race,  which 
was  etched  by  Ferris  and  Peter  Moran.     Wray  records 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  33 

that  prepared  copper  being  not  easily  procurable  at  that 
date,  these  two  artists  "  pounded  out  the  bottom  of  a 
copper  boiler,  and  coated  it  with  their  home-made  prepa- 
ration." A  few  years  later,  James  S.  King,  then  in 
Paris,  produced  some  heads  after  Rembrandt  (drawn 
directly  on  the  plate  and  sold  to  "  L'Art "  in  1882,  says 
the  artist)  and  Hals.  They  were  executed  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  process  due  partly  perhaps  to  discriminating 
study  of  the  works  of  Flameng  and  other  French  masters 
of  the  art. 

This  newly-opened  field  was  cultivated  by  the  dealers 
with  such  energy  that  a  number  of  artists  were  enlisted 
in  the  cause.  It  is  a  peculiar  circumstance  and  denoted 
a  somewhat  unnatural  condition,  perhaps,  that  nearly 
all  of  these  reproductive  etchers  were  won  from  the  ranks 
of  painters  and  not  from  those  of  the  professional  en- 
gravers and  etchers.  Two  men  among  these  latter  who 
were  particularly  well  equipped  for  such  work — James 
D.  Smillie  and  Stephen  A.  Schoff — were  almost  entirely 
passed  over.  Smillie  did  some  smaller  plates  after  Bridg- 
man.  Homer,  Jacque,  Pasini,  for  the  "  American  Art 
Review  "  and  a  large  and  effective  one  after  HuntingtonV 
Goldsmith's  Daughter.  Schoff,  in  his  portrait  of  Mrs. 
C.  F.  Adams  after  Wm.  M.  Hunt,  for  instance,  showed 
a  formal,  though  not  mechanical,  manner  that  well  ren- 
dered the  "  quiet  nobility  of  the  original."  Koehler  cites 
later  work  as  examples  of  the  freer  style  which  he  de- 
veloped,— portraits  of  Gen.  Devens  after  Vinton  and  of 
a  young  lady  after  Thayer,  At  the  Piano  after  Fowler — 
each  showing  an  effective  variation  of  treatment  in  ac- 


34  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

cord  with  the  original.  Sidney  L.  Smith,  whose  work 
is  always  marked  by  taste  and  discretion,  also  did  some 
small  plates  of  remarkable  delicacy,  used  as  book  illus- 
trations,— Bastien-Lepage's  Jeanne  d'Arc  and  Makart's 
Diana's  Hunting  Party — as  well  as  some  etchings  of  art 
objects  for  the  defunct  "  Studio  "  of  New  York. 

But  in  the  list  of  names  which  we  find  signed  to  the 
reproductive  etchings  of  those  days  there  will  be  recog- 
nized a  number  of  men  known  as  painters,  who  were  thus 
led  to  turn  to  the  task  of  interpreting,  with  varying  de- 
grees of  success,  their  own  works  as  well  as  those  of 
other  painters.  Thomas  Moran  showed  a  truly  *'  phe- 
nomenal skill  ";  Thomas  Hovenden  reproduced  Dem  was 
good  old  Times  and  others  of  his  own  paintings;  Ham- 
ilton Hamilton  signed  such  ambitious  plates  as  The  Com- 
municants after  Breton  (1886),  The  Fisherman's  Court- 
ship (published  by  J.  D.  Waring,  1889),  and  Hovenden's 
In  the  Hands  of  the  Enemy;  Shirlaw  translated  E.  John- 
son's The  Reprimand.  Charles  Walter  Stetson  is  also 
to  be  noted;  his  large  plates  after  French  artists,  executed 
for  a  private  gentleman  in  Providence,  are  characterized 
by  Koehler  as  highly  effective  despite  their  wild  daring 
and  the  etcher's  deficient  schooling.  S.  J.  Guy,  C.  Y. 
Turner,  F.  Dielman,  W.  H.  Lippincott,  Leon  Moran, 
C.  R.  Grant  and  others  were  similarly  engaged  in  putting 
into  black-and-white  the  works  of  various  painters,  prin- 
cipally Americans.  To  these  are  to  be  added  others  who 
were  more  completely  identified  with  the  etcher's  art: 
James  Fagan,  H.  Pruett  Share,  Miss  Edith  Penman,  F. 
Raubichek  (among  whose  plates  was  Evening  Shadows, 


a<2^->  ■  V. ,^'4--.«    ■  •.'--»'*<-■.-  :  :  ••V;W 


ixrt'  ^ 


Mother  and  Baby 
Drj'-point  by  Mary  Cassatt 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  35 

after  Minor) .  Also  Parrish  and  Charles  A.  Walker, 
who  rendered  French  landscapists  or  Mauve  with  fine 
adaptation  to  the  original,  though  perhaps  too  strong  a 
tendency  to  reproduce  brush-marks  rather  than  spirit. 
And  Aug.  Barry,  who  copied  Charles  H.  Miller's  Long 
Island  landscapes  with  somewhat  untutored  force,  and 
reproduced  also  Haden's  Breaking  up  of  the  Agamem- 
non. 

There  is  much  undoubted  ability  represented  in  this  list 
of  names,  and  some  that  is  quite  remarkable.  Even 
considering  the  output  in  its  entirety,  one  is  struck  by  the 
quick  conquest  of  technique,  the  very  respectable  degree 
of  attainment.  Yet  one  feels  that  in  some  cases  the  task 
was  approached  a  little  too  light-heartedly.  The  quali- 
ties demanded  of  a  reproductive  etcher  form  a  combina- 
tion not  too  common.  To  a  knowledge  of  form  and 
color  he  must  add  the  ability  to  adapt  himself  with  sym- 
pathy and  understanding  to  the  work  which  he  is  inter- 
preting, and  to  choose  and  combine  various  elements  in 
the  same,  not  to  speak  of  that  most  necessary  factor, 
patience.  It  does  not  seem  that  all  the  men,  nor  perhaps 
the  majority  of  them,  had  the  necessary  equipment  for 
the  work  which  the  publishers  led  them  to  undertake. 
The  glamor  of  etching  caused  the  latter  to  have  pictures 
etched  instead  of  engraved,  but  the  example  of  Smillie, 
Schoff  and  Smith  shows  that  the  engraver's  training  may 
be  an  important  factor  in  the  success  of  such  work.  The 
abuse  of  reproductive  etching,  it  appears,  grew  so  great 
that  the  New  York  Etching  Club  took  steps  to  close  its 
exhibitions  to  most  of  these  productions. 


36  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Meanwhile,  painter-etching  languished.  Koehler,  as 
early  as  1892,  found  that  the  various  etching  societies, 
organized  with  such  enthusiasm,  had  been  for  years  in  a 
state  of  innocuous  somnolence.  And  that  condition  of 
affairs  cannot  be  laid  altogether  at  the  door  of  repro- 
ductive etching,  for,  after  all,  the  two  are,  or  should 
be,  different  in  conception,  execution  and  ultimate  appeal. 
The  urgency  of  publishers  caused  over-production,  and 
turned  legitimate  interest  into  a  fad.  There  came,  also, 
a  demand  for  elaboration,  which,  as  Hitchcock  said,  "  in- 
jured etching  by  blurring  its  legitimate  characteristics." 
Effects  of  tonality  were  aimed  at,  in  which  the  distin- 
guishing characteristic  of  the  etching,  the  line,  was  over- 
looked and  lost  sight  of.  Finally,  the  art  was  cheap- 
ened, commercial  products — of  course  in  "  remarque  " 
or  "  artist's  "  proofs — found  their  place  on  the  "  bargain 
counter."  As  Walter  Aikman  once  said  to  me,  the  "  dry- 
goods  store  etchings  at  67  cents  "  did  it,  "  printed  by 
boys."  Discredit  was  brought  on  the  whole  business, 
with  the  inevitable  result. 

When  etching  was  on  the  wane,  Koehler,  Hitchcock, 
J.  D.  Smillie  and  Wray  agreed,  in  their  writings,  that 
though  commercially  the  fad  was  over,  and  production 
lessened,  the  average  quality  would  be  better.  It  would 
respond  to  a  demand  for,  and  understanding  of,  the 
personal  force  which  makes  a  painter-etching  what  it  is. 
That  is,  a  distinct  thing  apart,  with  characteristics  and 
qualities  based  on  its  very  nature  and  therefore  different 
from  those  in  any  other  graphic  art. 

Line-engraving,  wood-engraving  and  etching  have  little 


ETCHING:  EARLY  ATTEMPTS  37 

vitality  to-day  as  reproductive  arts;  the  half-tone,  the 
photogravure,  the  heliotype  and  the  straight  photograph 
serve  to  furnish  us  with  mechanically  effective  copies  of 
works  of  art.  But  the  etching  as  a  means  of  direct  ex- 
pression for  the  artist  is  coming  to  its  own  again. 


CHAPTER  II 
ETCHING:  THE  PRESENT  REVIVAL 

In  recent  years,  the  appeal  of  the  medium  has  again 
been  heeded,  the  fascination  of  this  art  as  a  means  of 
original  creation  has  been  appreciated  by  those  of  the 
younger  generation.  Classes  sprang  up  under  the  guid- 
ance of  J.  D.  Smillie  and  C.  F.  W.  Mielatz  at  the 
National  Academy,  and  of  George  Senseney  and  Charles 
Henry  White  at  the  Art  Students'  League,  in  New  York 
City.  Etchings  have  again  formed  a  noteworthy  addi- 
tion to  the  American  Water  Color  Society's  annual  shows. 
General  exhibitions  as  well  as  single-artist  shows  have  been 
arranged  in  increasing  numbers  by  print  departments  of 
museums  and  libraries,  and  by  print  dealers,  in  various 
cities,  and  effort  in  the  middle  west  has  crystallized 
around  the  Chicago  Society  of  Etchers,  formed  in  1910, 
and  broadening  into  a  national  inclusiveness. 

Yet  despite  all  this  activity,  such  a  renaissance,  by  the 
very  nature  of  the  medium  in  which  it  finds  expression, 
will  come  about  quietly,  unobtrusively.  The  movement 
is  anything  but  startling  or  revolutionary.  The  spirit 
that  is  animating  these  younger  disciples  of  needle  and 
acid  is  that  of  pure  etching,  of  the  art  with  its  advantages 
and  limitations.  In  the  best  of  this  newer  work  the 
true  nature  of  the  medium  is  respected  and  is  adapted 

38 


ETCHING:  THE  PRESENT  REVIVAL     39 

to  each  individuality, — a  necessity  in  the  practice  of  any 
art. 

It  is  quite  natural  that  in  some  of  the  earlier  produc- 
tions by  these  recent  arrivals  the  influence  of  certain  vig- 
orous personalities  in  the  annals  of  the  art  makes  itself 
felt.  So  one  may  detect  a  reflection  of  Whistler,  Mer- 
yon,  Legros,  Strang,  Zorn  or  Helleu  in  the  early  work  of 
some  of  our  younger  etchers.  This  personal  bias  is  the 
almost  inevitable  outlet  for  individual  temperament  and 
point  of  view,  which  may  at  first  attach  itself  to  the 
prior  expression  which  strikes  the  chord  most  sympa- 
thetic to  it,  until  it  finds  itself,  until  the  artist,  passing 
through  this  transitory  stage,  attains  his  natural  mode 
of  expression. 

Some  of  the  younger  etchers  have  worked  abroad 
mainly,  but  not  a  few  have  found  inspiration  in  their 
own  land,  seeking  subjects  in  city  and  country,  from 
Gloucester  to  San  Francisco,  and  presenting  them  with 
more  or  less  clearly  individual  point  of  view.  Often, 
indeed,  have  they  revealed  to  us  new  phases,  different 
aspects,  even  the  very  essence,  of  things  which  we  had 
seen  unseeing. 

Charles  Henry  White  has  again  emphasized  the  old  "^ 
truth  that  there  is  beauty  to  be  found  in  every-day  sur- 
roundings and  in  our  own  land,  and  has  set  before  us 
the  picturesque  qualities  of  street  and  alley,  of  water- 
front and  factory  district,  in  New  York,  Boston,  New 
Orleans,  Pittsburgh  and  other  American  cities.  Many 
of  his  etchings  have  been  reproduced  as  illustrations  for 
his  humorous  and  sprightly  papers  on  various  phases  of 


40  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

city   life,    published   in    *'  Harper's   Magazine."     B,   J. 

"^  Olsson-Nordfeldt  has  offered  clearly  individual  impres- 
sions of  New  York  and  particularly  of  Chicago.  The 
titles  of  his  Chicago  series  are  an  illuminating  index  to 
his  preferences  as  to  subject:  Grain  Elevators,  Smoke, 
Coal-chutes,  Gas  Tank  Town,  Bessemer  Converters.  He 
has  also  rendered  the  spirit  of  Provincetown,  whose  whal- 
\/    ing  flavor  likewise  attracted  young  John  C.  Vondrous. 

\J  Henry  Winslow,  while  insisting  less,  perhaps,  on  the  to- 
pography of  the  locality  than  some  etchers  of  particular 
places,  and  more  on  a  personal  viewpoint,  has  also 
chosen  scenes  in  New  York  and  elsewhere  in  his  native 
land. 

^  In  his  Norlands  series  Cadwallader  Washburn  pictured 
the  meadows,  woods  and  streams  of  Maine  in  the 
spirit  of  loving  intimacy  with  nature  which,  as  he 
has    written    himself,    was    his    from    childhood;    and 

>/  J.  Andre  Smith  has  sketched  the  shores  of  the 
Hudson,  a  bridge  in  Connecticut,  bits  of  Central  Park, 
New  York,  trains  and  apartment  houses  in  New  York 
City,  or  a  tree-lined  brook  in  Long  Island,  getting  his 
subjects  as  he  goes,  putting  them  on  copper  in  a  straight- 
forward, natural  manner,  always  with  a  personal  touch 
and  viewpoint  that  invests  the  simplest  motif, — a  bit  of 
brookside  with  a  tree  or  two  and  a  little  bridge  beyond, 
— with  the  interest  that  always  attaches  to  the  expression 
of  an  outlook  on  nature  worth  considering.  Further- 
more, New  York  City  has  offered  picturesque  nooks  and 

\  corners  to  H.  Deville,  H.  H.  Webster,  W.  J.  Quinlan; 
Harlem  River  to  H.  H.  Osgood;  Cincinnati  and  New- 


IriiMi  "  Hiirpi-r's   M;ii::i/iiie."    i 


A  Bit  of  Mount  Vernon  St.,  Boston 
Etching  by  Charles  Henry  White 


/ 


ETCHING:  THE  PRESENT  REVIVAL      41 

port,   Ky.,   to  E.  T.   Hurley;  Long  Branch  to  A.  T. 
Millar. 

Pennell,  long  resident  in  England,  has  in  recent  years 
again  exercised  his  mastery  of  the  art  in  the  delineation 
of  the  tall  buildings  of  New  York  and  the  industrial 
establishments  of  Pittsburgh.  And  C.  F.  W.  Mielatz, 
who  was  already  identified  with  the  earlier  movement 
which  found  expression  in  the  old  New  York  Etching 
Club,  is  to-day  in  the  maturity  of  his  powers  and  is 
striking  out  into  new  fields,  both  in  method  and  in  choice 
of  subject.  Fertile  in  resources,  of  an  experimentative 
spirit,  this  artist,  the  etcher  par  exemple  of  New  York 
City,  is  finding  new  possibilities  of  effect,  as  in  his  recent 
delightful  views  at  Lakewood.  He  is  a  prominent  figure 
in  the  present  revival,  both  by  example  and  precept;  as 
instructor  in  etching  at  the  National  Academy  of  Design 
he  is  the  worthy  successor  of  the  late  James  D.  Smillie. 
His  art  was  considered  by  the  present  writer  in  the 
"International  Studio"  for  September,    191 1. 

The  appeal  of  a  definite  locality  is  not  felt  strongly 
in  the  delightful  httle  landscapes  of  Alexander  Schilling,=^ 
which  are  of  a  suggestive  impressionism  akin  to  that  of 
the  etchings  of  Pissarro  or  Raffaelli.  Thomas  R.  Man-  / 
ley,  like  C.  A.  Vanderhoof,  who  has  in  recent  years  shown 
work  in  soft  ground,  is  interested  in  processes,  and  has 
brought  new  methods  into  play.  So,  too,  Ozias  Dodge 
combines  sun-printing  and  the  etching  bath  in  producing 
plates  with  a  freedom  of  effect  and  a  softness  of  grain 
reminiscent  of  lithography. 

In  plates  such  as  those  by  the  artists  named  we  find 


42  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

much  honest,  and  frequently  successful,  endeavor  to  show 
that  subjects  are  at  our  door  and  to  seize  and  present 
the  character  of  locality  as  it  appears  to  the  personal 
viewpoint.  Such  art  in  its  highest  potentiality  will  be 
a  reflection  of  American  life  and  aims  and  progress,  sum- 
marized by  the  artist's  power  of  grasping  and  sug- 
gesting the  prevailing  spirit  of  time  and  place  and 
people. 

Among  the  figure  etchers  we  not  only  find  rather  less 
of  the  feeling  for  the  native  soil,  but  they  are  very  much 

^  fewer  in  number  than  the  etchers  of  landscapes  and  city 
scenes.  To  mention  Otto  J.  Schneider,  John  Sloan, 
Augustus  Koopman,  W.  J.  Glackens,  A,  Allen  Lewis  is 
almost  to  exhaust  the  list.  Schneider's  swing  and  easy 
mastery  of  line  has  produced  direct  and  virile  characteri- 
zations of  notabilities:  Lincoln,  Emerson,  Mark  Twain. 
In  contrast  to  these  free  and  vigorous  character  studies 
are  his  graceful  female  portraits,  with  a  suggestion  of 
Helleu,  but  individual  nevertheless.     Their  note  of  ele- 

4  gance  finds  an  echo  in  the  portraits  by  A.  G.  Learned, 
who  made  also  one  of  J.  W.  Alexander,  while  A.  Allen 
Lewis's  work  is  of  a  sternness  that  recalls  Legros  in  cer- 
tain moods. 

There  is  a  certain  kinship  between  Glackens  and  Sloan, 
both  in  sketchy,  direct  method  and  in  the  choice  of  sub- 

«)  jects  in  lower  life.     Glackens  has  not  gone  beyond  a  few 

i  plates,  while  Sloan,  beside  a  number  of  illustrations  for 
an  edition  of  Paul  de  Kock,  has  in  a  series  of  etchings 
illustrated  certain  aspects  of  lower  life  in  New  York. 
His  quaintly  humorous  presentation   of  things  as  they 


ETCHING:  THE  PRESENT  REVIVAL      43 

are,  with  just  a  suggestion  of  John  Leech,  points  its  moral 
quietly,  with  no  trace  of  the  bitterness  of  the  over-zealous 
reformer. 

Some  of  these  etchers  have  worked  abroad  as  well. 
Olsson-Nordfeldt  has  etched  Italian,  Spanish  and  African*'^ 
series.  Osgood  has  been  occupied  by  Paris  and  London, 
Andre  Smith  by  rural  England,  its  cottages  and  farm- 
yards. Winslow  has  gone  to  Paris,  and  Vondrous  to 
Prague. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  noteworthy  group  of  men  has 
lived  mostly  or  altogether  abroad,  working  much  under 
foreign  influence   (Meryon,   for  instance)    and  naturally"^ 
choosing  foreign  subjects.     Among  them  E.  L.  Warner,"^ 
whose  delicate  sense  of  quaint  old  world  beauties  has 
found  expression   equally   well   on   canvas   and   copper. 
The  grocery,  the  side  street,  an  old  mill,  at  Montreuil-  ^ 
sur-Mer,  have  disclosed  to  him  their  hidden  charm,  and 
through    him    to    us.     Donald    Shaw    MacLaughlan,    a/ 
Canadian,  interprets  locality  in  a  personal  manner  which, 
as  Wedmore  has  pointed  out,  calls  for  and  repays  the 
study  of  work  which  is  neither  eccentric  nor  common- 
place.    He  has  changed  from  the  precision  and  elabora- 
tion of  his  earlier  plates  to  the   freer  manner  of  his 
Thames  and  Venetian  subjects.     His  Lauterhrunnen  was 
found  by  one  critic  to  be  "  one  of  the  few  pictures  that 
realize   the   vastness   of   the   mountains.    .    .    .      Space, 
sweep,  grandeur,  rudeness  and  power  are  found  in  this 
remarkable  plate,  which  also  is  beautifully  obedient  to 
the  canons  of  the  art." 

Herman    A.    Webster,    delighting    in    out-of-the-way 


44  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

quarters  of  old  French  towns  with  sun-baked  walls  and 
mysterious  shadows  in  dark  corners,  has  felt  the  com- 
pelling, stem  charm  of  Meryon,  yet  goes  his  own  way. 
In  some  of  his  plates,  definite  sureness  of  touch  is  linked 
with  a  certain  severity,  while  in  others  there  is  a  richness 
which  in  some  original  drawings  becomes  a  lusciousness 
that  makes  one  regret  that  he  has  not  tried  the  litho- 

;  graphic  crayon.  Martin  Hardie  and  F.  J.  Mather,  Jr. 
("  Art  and  Progress,"  August,  191 1 ) ,  have  written  of  his 
art.  George  C.  Aid,  attracted  by  the  problem  of  sun- 
light simmering  on  hot  stones  and  on  vibrating  water, 
has  managed  to  offer  five  different  impressions  of  the 
cool  arches  of  the  Pont  Neuf  in  Paris  (bridge  ever  dear 
to  etchers)  and  the  houses  beyond,  in  the  quivering  light 
of  a  hot  summer  day,  with  difference  of  aspect  and 
vision  in  each  case.  His  Location  de  Voitures  a  Bras 
contrasts  in  its  vigorous  handling  with  the  airy  grace 
of  the  Hotel  de  Cluny,  with  its  wistaria-crowned  wall  and 
the  slate-covered  sloping  roofs  beyond. 

Where  these  artists,  as  well  as  Albert  Worcester,  who 
works  with  quiet  effect  and  with  sympathy,  and  others, 
have  shown  the  structural  aspect  of  Paris,  it  is  the  life 

jof  the  city  that  has  attracted  Lester  G.  Hornby.  The 
life  and  surroundings,  figures  not  forming  a  mere  staffage 
for  the  buildings,  nor  the  latter  solely  a  background  for 
the  figures,  but  all  seen  as  parts  of  a  picture  of  Paris  in 
which  houses  and  streets  and  people  form  a  characteristic 
ensemble.  Hornby's  pictures,  thus  seen  and  rendered,  in 
queer  nooks  and  corners  of  Paris,  breathe  an  air  of  un- 
prejudiced observation,   recorded  with  light  yet  precise 


\ 


=^^^; 


J    ♦J 
<  O 


ETCHING:  THE  PRESENT  REVIVAL      45 

indication.  That  gives  us  such  a  delightful  bit  of  alley 
life  as  Passage  de  la  petite  Boucherie,  full  of  rich  shadows 
and  bright  sunlight.  He  has  printed  some  of  his  plates, 
especially  those  done  in  Tunis,  in  color. 

George  Senseney,  who  went  to  Paris  a  year  or  two  ago, 
has  been  entirely  devoted  to  etching  in  color,  utilizing 
the  suave  qualities  of  soft-ground  etching  and  the  tonal 
effect  of  aquatint  in  his  prints  of  a  remarkable  pictorial 
effect,  the  result  of  much  experimenting  and  careful  print- 
ing. "  The  Senseney  prints,"  wrote  J.  G.  Huneker,  "  at- 
tract you  by  their  air  of  sweetness,  their  soft  magnetism, 
their  harmonious  ensemble  in  tonalities."  Vaughan 
Trowbridge  also  employed  aquatint  as  a  vehicle  for  color 
in  his  earlier  prints. 

All  these  artists  have  devoted  themselves  mainly  to 
scenes  in  Paris  and  other  parts  of  France,  that  apparently 
inexhaustible  storehouse  of  attractive  subjects.  Others 
again  have  found  satisfaction  for  their  sense  of  the  pic- 
turesque in  Italy.  G.  Walter  Chandler,  with  an  evident 
liking  for  dark  shadows,  has  found  odd  bits  of  archi- 
tecture and  life  worth  his  while  in  Florence,  Milan  and 
Perugia.  A  covered  archway,  a  dimly-lighted  shop  in- 
terior, women  washing  in  the  little  stream  flowing  to  the 
rear  of  their  houses,  dark  arches  of  sunny  bridges,  such 
has  he  given  us. 

Both  Florence  and  Venice  have  been  pictured  by  Ernest  ^ 
D.  Roth,  usually  with  a  careful  adherence  to  detailed  fact 
and  the  use  of  the  line  to  render  tones.     V^hile  his  method 
is  in  contrast  to  the  suggestive  summariness  now  in  vogue, 
it  gives  a  noteworthy  personal  impression  of  local  spirit. 


46  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

His  art  is  understandingly  and  sympathetically  analyzed 
by  F.  J.  Mather,  Jr.,  in  the  "  Print  Collector's  Quarterly  " 
for  October,  191 1. 

Whistler's  influence  is  apparent  in  the  earlier  Venetian 
plates  of  more  than  one  artist  following  in  the  footsteps 
V  of  Duveneck,  Blum  and  Bacher.  One  who  so  began  as 
a  Whistler  disciple  is  Cadwallader  Washburn,  who  has*^ 
found  his  subjects  in  Venice,  Japan,  Mexico  and  Maine, 
and  has  presented  them  with  feeling  for  the  charm  of 
every-day  nature  and  for  the  picturesque  qualities  of 
buildings.  In  his  Mexican  series  he  shows  buildings 
varying,  in  their  aspect,  with  place,  time  and  conditions 
of  lighting,  drawn  with  synthetic  definiteness  and  direct 
sureness.  These  architectural  subjects  probably  mark  his 
highest  achievement  at  present,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  some  heads.  In  his  delightful  sketch  of  an  old 
Japanese  priest,  printed  on  gray  paper  taken  from  a  win- 
dow of  a  temple,  and  later  in  his  heads  of  Mexican  peons, 
he  has  shown  noteworthy  ability  to  express  his  human 
sympathy  for  his  fellow-man.  Where  Washburn  was 
attracted  by  the  gardens  of  Japan,  or  Chandler  by  the 
minarets  of  Benares,  Addison  T.  Millar  found  food  for  ^ 
both  his  artistic  leanings  and  his  experimentative  nature 
in  Algiers,  ever  dear  to  artists.  Yet  he  turned  easily 
from  that  land  of  sunshine  to  the  grayer  skies  of  Holland, 
finding  at  Laren  in  a  lane  of  birches,  or  a  farmhouse 
or  some  other  simple  motif,  a  subject  sufficient  to  dis- 
engage an  expression  of  mood,  in  harmony  with  the  scene 
before  him.  Passing  aspect  or  humor  sometimes  leads 
him  to  print  a  day  and  a  night  effect  from  the  same  plate. 


ETCHING:  THE  PRESENT  REVIVAL      47 

That  implies  the  well-understood  manipulation  of  various 
rags,  as  well  as  other  aids,  in  the  process  of  wiping  the 
plate  after  it  has  been  inked  and  before  the  paper  is  laid 
upon  it  and  run  through  the  press.  The  use  of  "  soft- 
ground  etching  "  and  other  methods  has  been  for  him  a 
further  means  of  attaining  desired  effects. 

Still  other  names  come  to  mind:  Augustus  Koopman, 
Ernest  Haskell,  John  Marin  (delicate,  hazy  views  of 
Venice  and  Amsterdam),  R.  F.  Williams,  Eugene  Hig- 
gins,  Charles  K.  Gleason,  Newton  A.  Wells,  professor 
at  the  University  of  Illinois;  Champaign  (said  to  have 
done  charming  and  delicate  small  landscapes),  Maud 
Hunt  Squire  (clever  bits  in  few  lines  and  flat  tints  of 
color).  Will  J.  Quinlan,  Arthur  Covey.  Furthermore, 
the  catalogues  of  the  exhibitions  of  the  Chicago  Society 
of  Etchers,  which  have  been  held  in  Chicago,  Worcester, 
Mass.,  St.  Louis  and  elsewhere,  include  the  names  of 
Earl  H.  Reed,  Walter  Dean  Goldbeck,  Thomas  W.  and 
Helen  B.  Stevens  (who  did  a  series  of  universities  and 
colleges),  Mrs.  Bertha  E.  Jaques,  secretary  of  the  Society, 
C.  B.  King,  Katherine  Kimball,  Thomas  R.  Congdon, 
Ralph  M.  Pearson,  Katherine  Merrill,  Francis  Melville 
and  others.  Still  farther  west,  from  Colorado  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  Will  Sparks,  Mrs.  Marion  Holden  Pope, 
G.  Piazzoni,  George  E.  Burr  and  Helen  Hyde  are  direct- 
ing local  interest  to  the  charm  of  painter-etching 
("Notable  Western  Etchers,"  by  Sheldon  Cheney,  in 
"Sunset"  for  December,  1908). 

This  varied  activity  does  not  invariably  represent  work 
of  the  highest  grade.     Some  of  it  is  the  result  of  an 


J 


48  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

enthusiasm  expressed  in  amateurish  ways.  But  one  can 
record  also  that  these  ways,  in  some  instances,  are  being 
mended.  And  there  is  enough  in  the  general  product  of 
a  sufficiently  high  order,  there  Is  a  large  enough  propor- 
tion of  etchers  whose  good  intentions  are  backed  up  by 
an  appreciable  degree  of  ability,  to  make  it  possible  to 
regard  this  recent  movement  with  some  degree  of  satis- 
faction. 

There  has  been  appreciation  of  some  phases  of  this 
effort,  as  far  as  outward  signs  go.  These  younger  men 
are  being  assiduously  written  up,  their  works  are  fre- 
quently exhibited,  and  one  hears  of  some  sales.  "  One 
man  shows  "  at  the  galleries  of  dealers  In  New  York  and 
Chicago,  and  in  museums  and  clubs  in  various  cities,  have 
been  devoted  to  various  ones  of  these  etchers:  Mielatz, 
Schilling,  Hornby,  Webster,  Washburn,  Haskell,  Aid, 
Reed,  Getchell,  Hurley,  Olsson-Nordfeldt,  Deville,  are  a 
few  that  occur  to  me.  And  beside  the  magazine  articles 
devoted  to  individual  artists,  similar  studies,  useful  and 
well  illustrated,  have  been  Issued  in  pamphlet  form  by 
print-sellers. 

Widely  differing  individualities  seek  and  find  expression 
In  this  art  of  such  extended  possibilities,  of  such  Infinite 
suppleness,  though  so  Intimate  In  character.  There  Is  no 
violent  novelty  In  the  various  personal  phases  of  this 
movement,  no  obstreperous  shriek,  no  blatant  blare  of 
revolt.  Individuality  finds  expression,  but  finds  It  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  limits  and  possibilities  of  the  medium, 
the  tools  and  materials  used  in  the  production  of  the 
etching. 


I'HL    VoiL    COTTAGt,    FoRDHAM,    XeW    YoRK 

Etching  by  C.  F.  W,  Mielatz 


ETCHING:  THE  PRESENT  REVIVAL      49 

The  significance  of  this  new  movement  lies  in  the  spirit 
which  pervades  it.  It  is  important  because  of  tlie  atti- 
tude of  the  men  whose  work  constitutes  its  more  im- 
portant tangible  results.  This  attitude,  the  only  proper 
one  in  any  form  of  art,  finds  technical  expression  for  a 
realization  of  the  possibilities  of  a  medium  combined  with 
a  given  individuality.  The  medium,  be  it  brush  and 
canvas,  chisel  and  stone,  burin  and  wood  block,  or  needle 
and  copper-plate,  has  its  possibilities  and  its  limits,  both 
of  which  must  be  clearly  understood  to  produce  the  best 
results,  results  to  which  the  nature  of  the  medium  gives 
its  characteristic  flavor.  Respect  for  the  medium  does 
not  imply  hampering  of  individuality,  but  simply  its 
''orderly  expression.  Submission  to  the  necessities  im- 
posed by  the  tool  is  no  more  a  curb  on  genius  than  the 
grammar  of  a  language.  Genius  will  mold  the  method  to 
its  manner.  And  it  is  the  very  diversity  of  personal  ex- 
pression in  this  language  of  needle  and  acid  that  increases 
the  attractiveness  of  this  phase  of  American  art.  The 
charm  of  the  best  of  these  etchings  lies  in  their  intimacy 
of  expression  and  in  the  possibility  of  intimate  relation 
between  the  etcher  and  the  beholder. 

Etching  is  not  an  art  of  big  effects,  of  striking  appeal 
to  the  great  mass.  It  is  not  a  question  here,  as  it  may  " 
be  in  painting,  of  "  keying  up  "  to  counteract  the  effect 
of  adjacent  pictures  at  an  exhibition.  Etching  is  emi- 
nently a  "  painter  art,"  reproducing  a  given  design  in  a 
number  of  prints  of  which  each  is  essentially  the  artist's  ^ 
work.  Particularly  is  this  latter  the  case  if  the  artist  is 
his  own   printer,   as   Whistler  was,   as   Pennell   is,   and 


so  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Mielatz,  MacLaughlan,  White  and  many  others.  It 
forms  an  immediate,  direct  medium  for  the  expression 
of  the  more  intimate  phases  of  artistic  personality.  It 
is  based  on  precise  delicacy,  not  on  broad  impressions, 
yet  its  strength  lies  in  summariness,  in  compressed  state- 
ment and  not  in  abundant  detail.  It  is  an  art  of  sug- 
gestion, of  selection.  If  comparisons  and  analogies  were 
not  so  generally  futile,  one  might  say  that  an  exhibition 
of  etchings  fills  in  art  somewhat  the  function  of  chamber 
music  concerts  in  the  sister  art. 

It  is  these  facts  which  make  the  present  revival  of 
interest  in  etching  more  than  a  passing  fad,  which  make 
it  a  hopeful  sign,  a  possible  factor  of  decided  importance 
in  the  future  development  of  American  art. 


CHAPTER  III 

ENGRAVING  IN  LINE  AND  STIPPLE: 
THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

The  history  of  graphic  art  in  America,  as  a  matter 
of  home  production,  before  the  Revolution,  is  not  ex- 
tensive, and  naturally  so.  A  young  people  in  the  process 
of  wresting  its  existence  from  nature,  gaining  a  foothold 
in  a  new  land  and  gradually  growing  into  a  new  national 
life,  had  no  time  for  the  cultivation  of  the  fine  arts.  Any 
satisfaction  of  esthetic  wants  had  to  come  mainly  through 
such  works  of  art  or  illustrated  books  as  reached  here 
from  Europe. 

During  the  period  of  discovery  and  settlement,  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  the  literature  pub- 
lished in  Europe  concerning  the  new  continent  included 
a  few  illustrated  books.  The  illustrations  by  Jacques  Le 
Moyne  for  his  "  Narratio "  of  the  expedition  sent  to 
Florida  in  1564  under  Jean  Ribaut  and  by  John  White 
for  the  account  of  Raleigh's  Virginia  venture  of  1585-86 
(both  issued  by  DeBry),  the  plates  in  Champlain's  "  Voy- 
ages," John  Smith's  "  General  History  of  Virginia " 
(1624),  and  Du  Creux's  "  Historiae  Canadensis  "  (1664) 
comprise  practically  all  there  was  of  contemporary 
illustrated  books  relating  to  this  country  and  its 
aborigines. 

5X 


52  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

As  settlements  grew  up  and  expanded,  views  of  the 
same  were  prepared  in  Europe.  Particularly  was  this 
bound  to  be  the  case,  of  course,  with  larger  communities 
such  as  Boston  or  New  York.  Of  the  latter,  for  ex- 
ample, there  exists  an  interesting  series  of  views.  The 
earliest,  published  in  "  Beschrijvinghe  van  Virginia,  Neuw 
»/<J^ederlandt  [etc.],"  by  Joost  Hartgers,  in  165 1,  shows 
^  the  city  about  1630.  Then  come  the  Visscher  (about 
1652),  Montanus  (1671),  and  Allard  (1673)  views,  the 
"  South  East "  and  *'  South  West "  views  by  Canot  after 
Howdell  (1768),  and  so  on  to  1800,  duly  listed  and  de- 
scribed in  W.  L.  Andrews's  books  "  The  Iconography  of 
the  Battery  and  Castle  Garden"  (1901),  "Journey  of 
the  Iconophiles  around  New  York  in  search  of  the  His- 
torical and  Picturesque"  (1897),  "New  Amsterdam, 
New  Orange  and  New  York:  a  chronologically  arranged 
Account  of  engraved  Views  of  New  York  City  "  (1897) 
and  "  New  York  as  Washington  knew  it  after  the  Revo- 
lution," and  the  forthcoming  work  by  I.  N.  Phelps  Stokes. 
As  native  artists  and  engravers  began  to  unfold  a  more 
extended  activity  in  this  field,  the  time  between  the  pub- 
lication of  these  succeeding  views  of  New  York  City 
grew  gradually  less,  until  the  nineteenth  century  saw  a 
steady  flow  of  them  even  before  the  advent  of  the  camera 
which  records  the  kaleidoscopic  rapidity  of  change  caused 
by  the  rapid  disappearance  of  old  buildings, — and  of 
newer  ones,  too,  for  that  matter — and  the  erection  of 
higher  ones.  Foreign  and  American  prints  are  listed  to 
comparatively  recent  date  in  the  catalogues  of  the  ex- 
hibitions of  New  York  City  views  at  the  Grolier  Club 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     53 

(1907)  and  at  the  New  York  Public  Library  (1901  and 
1909).     A  most  remarkable  exhibit  of  early  and  rare    ^ 
views  of  the  metropolis  was  held  at  the  last-named  in-    / 
stitution  in  19 12. 

As  one  passes  in  mental  review  others  of  the  early 
settlements  there  come  to  view  such  prints  issued  abroad 
as  those  of  "  Charlestown,  S.  C."  (1739),  published  by  ' 
B.  Roberts  and  W.  H.  Toms;  Charlestown,  Mass. 
(1776);  or  the  rare  one  of  Savannah  in  1734,  by  P. 
Fourdrinier. 

During  the  pre-Revolutionary  period  it  was  in  the  field  -^ 
of  applied  art,  through  the  wants  of  the  home,  that 
American  art  first  effected  accomplishment  worthy  of 
record.  That  is  seen  in  our  silverware,  described  by 
R.  T.  Haines  Halsey;  from  those  who  produced  it  there 
came  also  our  earliest  engravings  on  metal.  From  the 
first  copper-plate  engraver  in  the  Colonies  known  to  usv^ 
by  name,  John  Conny  or  Cony,  who  was  working  as 
early  as  1700,  it  was  the  silversmiths  who  were  among 
the  earliest  to  apply  the  ability  gained  in  engraving  on 
their  productions,  to  the  supplying  of  such  line-engravings 
as  the  needs  of  the  hour  justified.  Not  a  few  of  these 
men  advertised  as  engravers  on  gold,  silver,  copper,  steel, 
brass  and  pewter,  attacking  various  metals  and  problems 
with  the  assurance  of  necessity.  Henry  Pursell,  for  ex-  '^ 
ample,  was  ready  (1775)  ^^  ^^  "crests,  .  .  .  door- 
plates,  dog  collars,  etc."  Francis  Dewing,  who  came 
from  England  in  17 16,  announced  of  himself:  "he  like- 
wise cuts  neatly  in  wood  and  printeth  calicoes."  And 
Rollinson  is  "  credited  with  having  ornamented  the  silver 


54  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

buttons  on  the  coat  worn  by  Washington  at  his  inaugura- 
tion as  president." 

"  The  scarcity  of  metallic  money  among  the  early 
Colonists,  and  the  necessary  issue  of  a  paper  currency 
to  meet  this  condition,"  says  Stauffer,  "  probably  created 
the  first  serious  demand  for  the  work  of  a  copper-plate 
engraver."  John  Conny  or  Cony,  who  did  Massachu-y 
setts  bills  of  credit  in  1702-3,  and  possibly  those  of  1690, 
is  the  earliest  known  producer  of  plates  for  paper  money, 
the  forerunner  of  the  able  craftsmen  who  in  the  nineteenth 
century  developed  the  art  of  bank-note  engraving  to  a 
remarkably  high  degree  of  mechanical  perfection. 
Among  the  eighteenth  century  engravers  of  money  were 
also  Thomas  Sparrow,  who  signed  plates  for  Maryland 
issues  in  1770-74,  and  Abner  Reed,  who  was  engaged  in 
engraving  bills  near  the  end  of  the  century  (1792). 

Portraiture  answered  a  natural  want,  and  the  first  na- 
tive production  on  copper  in  this  specialty,  as  far  as 
known,  is  a  copy  of  an  English  engraving  of  the  Rev. 
Increase  Mather,  "  little  more  than  scratched  upon  cop- 
per"  in  1701  by  Thomas  Emmes  of  Boston,  and  pub- 
lished in  Boston  in  the  same  year  as  a  frontispiece  to  a 
sermon  ("The  Blessed  Hope,  etc.")  by  Mather.  Later  " 
engravers  attacked  the  problem  with  more  vigor,  perhaps, 
but  not  much  more  art.  Portraits  such  as  that  of  Isaac 
Watts  by  James  Turner  (Boston,  1746),  hard  as  a  nail, 
exemplify  a  style  of  work,  labored  in  its  anxious  and 
helpless  striving  to  gain  an  effect  without  sufficient  skill. 
Those  characteristics  one  may  find  even  much  later, — 
say  in  the  portrait  of  Washington,  with  snake  and  the 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     55 

motto  "  Don't  tread  on  me,"  by  Buxton,  in  "  A  poetical 
Epistle  to  His  Excellency  George  Washington  "  (Provi- 
dence, 1781).  This  plate  was  copied  from  the  one  by 
♦^William  Sharp,  the  noted  English  engraver,  in  the  Lon- 
don (1780)  edition  of  the  book.  Even  at  the  very  end 
of  the  century  one  finds,  as  in  the  work  of  Smither  or 
James  Allen  (who  did  a  primitive  Bonaparte  in  1792),  a 
helplessness  that  is  almost  touching  instead  of  laughable. 
The  need  of  maps  and  the  interest  in  views  seem 
fairly  natural.  Francis  Dewing's  plan  of  Boston  (1722), 
from  a  drawing  by  Capt.  John  Bonner,  is  presumably 
the  earliest  one  on  copper  made  in  this  country.  And 
in  Cadwallader  Colden's  "  Papers  relating  to  the  Indian 
trade,"  published  by  Bradford  in  New  York  in  1724, 
there  appears  a  map  of  the  Five  Indian  Nations  (taking 
in  the  Province  of  New  York  and  a  little  more),  which 
Mr.  Wilberforce  Eames  thinks  was  undoubtedly  done  in 
New  York,  and  is  probably  the  first  one  executed  in  the 
middle  colonies.  Others  who  met  the  need  for  maps 
were  Abel  Buell,  Thomas  Johnston  (plan  of  Boston,  pub- 
lished by  Burgis  in  1729),  James  Turner,  M.  G.  de  Bruls 
(Niagara,  1759),  Bernard  Romans  and  William  Barker. 
Famous  among  the  early  views  is  the  South  Prospect  of 
the  City  of  New  York  (17 17)  of  William  Burgis,  prob- 
ably, as  W.  L.  Andrews  says,  the  first  view  engraved  in 
America.  In  the  only  known  copy,  in  the  New  York  His- 
torical Society,  the  engraver's  name  is  torn  off,  but  Stauffer 
notes  that  a  restrike  (1746)  is  signed  /.  Harris  Sc,  and 
he  believes  that  Burgis  simply  published  this  and  other 
plates  (some  of  which  are  signed  by  known  engravers), 


i/ 


y 


S6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

his  mezzotint  view  of  Boston  Light  House  being  the 
only  engraving  signed  by  Burgis  which  he  has  seen.  The 
Burgis  view  of  New  York  was  often  copied  or  adapted, 
wholly  or  in  part,  by  various  engravers  in  succeeding 
years, — through  the  nineteenth  century — particularly  that 
portion  showing  the  site  of  the  later  Fulton  Ferry  in 
Brooklyn.  The  name  of  Burgis  as  publisher  appears  also 
on  a  picture  of  Harvard  College  {A  Prospect  of  the  Col- 
ledges  in  Cambridge  in  New  England) ,  and  on  one  of  the 
New  Dutch  Church  in  New  York  City.  Still  other  views 
may  serve  to  indicate  gradual  increase  of  home  produc- 
tion in  this  field  in  pre-Revolutionary  days.  There  were 
the  South  East  View  of  Boston    (1743),  published  by 

"^  William  Price;  James  Turner's  view  of  Boston,  with 
some  Indian  scenes  below  ("American  Magazine,"  Bos- 
ton, 1744)  ;  Perspective  View  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hos- 
pital (1761), — selling  for  "  i  shilling  plain  and  2  col- 
^ored," — by  James  Claypoole,  Jr.;  A  South  East  Prospect 
of  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  by  J.  Steeper  and  H.  Dawkins, 
after  Montgomery  and  Winters  (1775);  North  West 
Prospect  of  Nassau  Hall  .  .  .,  N.  J.,  by  H.  Dawkins 
after  W.  Tennant  and  others,  coarse  work  and  thin. 

But  there  was  other  opportunity  also  for  the  engravers, 
book-plates  to  be  done,  and  business  cards  (that  by  Henry 

j/  Dawkins  for  Benj.  Harbeson  quite  brave  in  elaboration 
of  the  Chippendale  style),  billheads,  certificates  of  mem- 
bership (e.g.,  Revere's  certificate  of  enlistment  in  His 
*'  Majesty's  North  Battery,  Boston,  of  which  there  are  a 
number  of  restrikes).  Also  printers'  ornaments,  such  as 
the  coat  of  arms  of  William  Penn  engraved  by  James 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     57 

Turner,  presumably  on  type-metal,  for  the  title  of  the 
"Philadelphia  Gazette"  (1767),  or  the  type-metal 
vignette  for  the  "Pennsylvania  Magazine"  (1775),  by  ^ 
J.  Smither.  Sheet  music,  too;  by  Thomas  Johnston, 
Henry  Dawkins  ("Urania,"  a  music  book,  1761),  John 
Norman  ( 178 1),  or  Isaac  Sanford  ( 1783),  both  title  and 
music  being  usually  engraved  by  the  same  hand. 

Such  incidental  productions,  then,  were  executed  by 
Nathaniel  Morse,  Thomas  Johnston,  James  Turner, 
Elisha  Gallaudet,  James  Claypoole,  Jr.,  Henry  Dawkins, 
Nathaniel  Hurd,  Robert  Aitken,  John  Steeper.  Like- 
wise by  those  who  take  us  more  definitely  into  Revolu- 
tionary and  post-Revolutionary  days:  A.  Billings,  Abra- 
ham Godwin,  Bernard  Romans,  James  Smither,  John 
Norman,  Benjamin  Jones,  Paul  Revere,  Abernethie,  N. 
Dearborn,  Joseph  Callender,  Amos  Doolittle,  Joseph 
Bowes,  N.  Hurd,  Robert  Scot.  And  by  those  whose  ac- 
tivity reached  well  into  the  following  century  (in  which 
even  A.  B.  Durand  did  not  disdain  to  engrave  tickets  of^ 
admission  to  balls,  and  like  things)  :  William  Hamlin, 
James  Poupard,  Ralph  Rawdon,  John  Vallance,  Peter 
Rushton  Maverick  and  his  son  Peter,  the  latter's  card 
significantly  advertising  "  a  general  graphic  business." 

A  number  of  the  early  engravers  are  represented,  mostly 
by  portraits,  by  reproductions  given  in  David  McNeely  \ 
Stauffer's  "  American  Engravers  upon  Copper  and  Steel," 
a  monumental  work  of  painstaking  care.  The  book  was 
issued  in  1907  by  the  Grolier  Club,  which  in  the  follow- 
ing year  held  an  exhibition  of  "  Early  American  Engrav- 
ing upon  Copper."    A  similar  exhibition  was  held  by  the 


S8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Boston  Museum  in  December,  1904 — February,  1905 
("  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  an  Exhibition  of  Early 
Engraving  in  America").  There  are  various  special 
studies,  too,  such  as  Samuel  Abbott  Green's  "  Ten  Fac- 
simile Reproductions  relating  to  Old  Boston  and  Neigh- 
borhood "  (1901)  and  "Ten  Fac-simile  Reproductions 
relating  to  various  Subjects"  (1903),  and  the  volumes 
on  Revolutionary  portraiture  and  New  York  views  by 
W.  L.  Andrews.  And  in  individual  cases  research  has 
resulted  in  monographs  or  shorter  papers  such  as  those 
on  John  Norman  by  C.  H.  Hart  ("Some  Notes  con- 
cerning John  Norman,"  Cambridge,  1904)  and  S.  A. 
Green  ("Remarks  on  the  Boston  Magazine  .  .  .  and 
John  Norman,  Engraver,"  Cambridge,  1904),  and  on 
Revere  by  W.  L.  Andrews  ("  Paul  Revere  and  his  En- 
graving," New  York,  1901).  In  1912  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society  held  an  exhibition  of  engravings  by 
Revere,  mostly  from  its  own  collection;  a  list,  prepared 
by  the  librarian,  Clarence  S.  Brigham,  was  published  in 
the  "Boston  Transcript"  of  January  17,  1912. 

j  The  hardness  and  crudeness  of  the  early  prints  are 
more  apparent,  perhaps,  in  portraits  than  elsewhere,  but 
they  characterize  our  eighteenth  century  work  generally. 
Well  into  the  nineteenth  century,  in  fact,  our  art  was 

\}  essentially  provincial,  much  of  it  a  reflection,  often  quite 
weak,  of  European  models.  The  many  names  recorded 
by  Stauffer  and  others  are  not  infrequently  offered  in  a 
tone  of  kindly  indulgence  or  frank  apology.  Grace  and 
elegance  were  quite  lacking,  and  if,  around  the  turn  of 
the  century,  a  little  more  suavity  and  richness  is  occa- 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     59 

sionally  met  with,  it  is  probably  the  result  of  increasing 
technical  ability  to  copy  with  more  justice  to  the  original, 
and  it  appears,  moreover,  particularly  in  the  more  easily 
mastered  stipple  manner. 

"  Many  of  the  early  portraits  which  illustrate  this 
crucial  period  of  our  history,"  says  W.  L.  Andrews  (in  . 
his  "  Essay  on  the  Portraiture  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tionary War,"  New  York,  1896),  "are  so  coarse  and 
crude  in  design  and  execution  that  by  means  of  their  very 
grotesqueness  they  exercise  a  certain  weird  fascination  on 
the  collector."  Occasionally  one  comes  across  contem- 
porary acknowledgment  of  insufficiency.  Publishers  or 
editors  of  publications,  even  as  late  as  the  second  decade 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  ask  the  indulgence  of  their 
readers,  usually  on  the  plea  that  the  illustrations  presented 
are  by  native  talent, — appealing  for  aid  to  an  infant  native 
industry,  as  it  were.  For  example,  the  advertisement  of 
a  Bible  published  by  Isaiah  Thomas  at  Worcester  in  1791, 
and  for  which  Joseph  H.  Seymour  did  thirty-two  en- 
gravings, reads:  "These  plates  were  engraved  ...  in 
this  town  in  1 79 1  .  .  .  and  the  Editor  doubts  not  but 
a  proper  allowance  will  be  made  for  work  engraved  by 
an  Artist  who  obtained  his  knowledge  in  this  country, 
compared  with  that  done  by  European  engravers  who 
have  settled  in  the  United  States,"  On  the  other  hand, 
the  work  produced  by  our  native  engravers  was  not  in- 
variably accepted  uncritically.  Norman's  plates  in  the 
"Impartial  History"  (Boston,  1781-82;  original  Eng- 
lish edition,  1780)  met  with  a  scathing  criticism  from 
the  "Freeman's  Journal"    (Philadelphia),  January  26, 


6o  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

J  1795.  The  portraits  of  Knox,  Samuel  Adams  and  Green 
were  named  as  particularly  bad,  with  the  comment, 
"  Surely  such  extraordinary  figures  are  not  intended  to 
give  the  rising  generation  an  improved  taste  in  the  arts 
of  design  and  sculpture."  The  prints  in  this  American 
edition  of  this  book  are  not,  apparently,  always  copied 
from  those  in  the  English  one,  and  even  when  so  copied, 
there  may  be  changes  in  detail,  as  in  the  full-length  Wash- 
ington, on  which  Norman  has  put  a  different  head  and  in 
a  different  position.  But  one  does  not  feel  inclined  to 
trust  them  very  much  more,  as  portraits,  than  those  made 
farther  away  from  the  scene  of  action.  W.  L.  Andrews, 
who  cites  the  above-mentioned  proof  of  contemporary 
appreciation  of  the  badness  of  not  a  little  of  the  engraving 
of  the  day,  adds  his  own  testimony  to  the  effect  that 
Norman's  portraits   of  General  and  Mrs.   Washington 

/  (Boston,  1782),  rare  prints  by  the  way,  are  "  atrociously 
bad  "  and  rival  the  Doolittle  battle-pieces  in  that  respect. 
As  a  collector,  however,  Mr.  Andrews  does  not  reject 
that  of  which  he  disapproves  from  the  artistic  standpoint. 
We  others  may  join  him  in  open-eyed  realization  of  the 
faults  of  much  of  this  early  work  without  on  that  account 
either  lessening  our  patriotico-sentimental  affection  for  it 
or  having  any  fear  of  lowering  its  price  in  the  collector's 
market.  In  fact,  before  these  early  attempts  on  copper 
the  esthetic  sense  has  not  so  much  to  say.  They  appeal 
to  us  because  they  bear  the  very  imprint  of  those  days 
of  gradual  formation  which  preceded  the  final  consumma- 
tion of  our  recognized  nationality.  It  is  human  activity, 
more  than  art,  that  speaks  to  us  from  these  weak  efforts 


.^ 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     6i 

to  give  our  scattered  population  something  like  the  pic- 
torial art  found  in  the  home  lands  of  Europe. 

Collections  of  Americana  will  inevitably  Include  many  . 
European  prints,  for  example  among  the  portraits  of 
Washington,  Franklin  and  John  Paul  Jones.  Not  in- 
frequently these  show  lack  of  the  knowledge  of  and 
sympathy  for  the  subject  necessary  to  characteristic  por- 
traiture, but  technically  they  usually  contrast  strongly 
with  our  home  product. 

Through  the  Revolution  and  its  after  results  the  Amer- 
ican colonists  were  naturally  thrown  more  on  their  own 
resources.  Furthermore,  they  did  things  that  made  his- 
tory and  that  called  for  illustration  of  events  and  por- 
traits of  chief  actors.  The  inevitable  consequence  was 
that  a  group  of  national  engravers  arose, — it  would  hardly 
do  to  call  it  a  school,  though  it  showed  a  certain  origi- 
nality in  its  mingled  vigor  and  weakness,  mediocre  con- 
ventionality and  fresh  outlook. 

In  the  first  place,  to  carry  on  the  war,  money  was 
needed,  and  examination  of  examples  of  the  paper  cur- 
rency of  that  time  Is  interesting  occupation.  Some  of  It 
is  partly  engraved  and  partly  printed;  or,  again,  the  bor- 
der may  be  a  composite  affair  of  type-metal  ornaments 
and  symbols  strung  together.  A  piece  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  currency  of  1779,  showing  the  pine  tree  In  the  upper 
left  corner,  and  with  the  date  put  on  with  a  stamp  print- 
ing white  on  black  ( ! ) ,  Is  lettered  at  the  bottom :  "  death 
to  counterfeit,"  recalling  the  severe  English  law  under 
which  W.  W.  Ryland,  the  stipple  engraver,  went  to  the 
gallows  at  Tyburn  as  late  as  1783.     We,  too,  had  counter- 


62  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

feiters  in  Colonial  days.  Abel  Buell  (who  subsequently 
worked  for  the  government),  Joseph  Billings  (1770), 
Henry  Dawkins  and  Richard  Brunton  (1799:  he  forms 
the  subject  of  a  pamphlet  by  A.  C.  Bates)  are  among  the 
engravers  credited  with  taking  advantage  of  the  ease  with 
which  our  early  notes  could  be  forged.  The  Revolution 
brought  us  our  first  historical  prints,  because,  indeed,  there 
were  events  to  picture.  The  Boston  Massacre  (1770), 
a  hand-colored  engraving  by  Revere,  is  a  famous  and 
rare  old  print,  seldom  enough  seen  but  known  through 
reproductions  and  through  the  engraved  copy  executed 
in  1908  by  Sidney  L.  Smith.  About  1880,  Mr.  Stauffer 
tells  me,  the  Revere  family  had  Daniels  of  Boston  strike 
off  a  few  impressions  without  the  inscription.  And  W.  L. 
Andrews  notes  several  contemporary  copies  of  the  print, 
in  England  and  America.  In  a  letter  from  Henry  Pel- 
ham  (see  "Bibliographer"  for  March,  1902),  Revere 
is  charged  with  having  copied  Pelham's  engraving  of  the 
massacre.  No  such  print  is  known  to  exist,  but  we  are 
told  that  "  several  water-color  copies  of  the  massacre 
have  been  preserved,  which  are  exactly  the  same  in  design 
as  the  Revere  plate,  but  much  superior  to  it  in  the  details." 
Previously,  in  1768,  Revere  had  done  two  views  of  Bos- 
ton of  which  one  is  on  copper  (existing  in  colored  impres- 
sions and  in  restrikes,  without  inscription)  and  the  other 
on  wood  or  type-metal,  showing  the  landing  of  British 
troops.  In  the  "  Royal  American  Magazine  "  for  Jan- 
uary, 1774,  there  appeared  a  small  copy  of  this  view, 
with  the  title  Fiew  of  the  Town  of  Boston  with  several 
Ships  of  War  in  the  Harbour. 


Line  Engraving  on  Copper  by  Paul  Revere 
This   portrait,    supposed  to   exist,  had  not  been  seen  by  D.   M    Stauffer  ind 
other  authont.es,    until  an  impression  came  to    light    quite  recently  in  the  ^Iew 
\  ork  Public  Llbrar>^     It  is  reproduced  here  for  the  first  time 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     63 

Though  crude  enough,  the  Massacre  seems  rather  bet-  ^ 
ter  in  execution  than  the  set  of  four  plates  by  Amos 
Doolittle  (re-engraved  in  our  day  by  S.  L.  Smith)  from 
drawings  by  Ralph  Earle,  picturing  the  engagements  at 
Concord  and  Lexington,  also  colored  by  hand,  the  work 
of  the  burin  crude,  the  drawing  touchingly  helpless.  But 
they  speak  to  us  with  rough  eloquence  of  times  of  action 
through  brain  and  brawn.  Despite  their  faults  they,  like 
Revere's  Massacre,  are  cherished  as  are  the  incunabula 
of  wood-engraving.  One  of  the  four,  the  Battle  of 
Lexington,  was  re-engraved  on  a  smaller  scale  by  A. 
Doolittle  and  J.  W.  Barber  in  1832.  And  the  set  was 
reproduced,  from  uncolored  impressions,  in  a  small  quarto 
issued  in  Boston  (1883)  with  text  by  Edward  G.  Porter, 
and  from  colored  ones  in  a  folio  (1875)  embodying 
Jonas  Clark's  narrative  of  the  transactions  of  April  19, 

1775- 

The  Battle  of  Lexington  was  illustrated  again,  much 

later  (1798),  by  Tiebout  in  an  engraving  after  Tisdale, 
also  to  be  seen  in  color.  And  it  will  of  course  be  re- 
membered that  Trumbull  executed  a  painting  of  the  affair 
at  Bunker  Hill ;  it  was  reproduced  on  two  plates  in  John 
Norman's  largest  engraving,  and  more  than  once  in  the 
nineteenth  century. 

A  few  months  before  the  Doolittle  prints  there  had*' 
appeared  Romans's  Exact  View  of  the  late  Battle  at 
Charles  town  (Philadelphia,  1775).  This  print  of  the 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill, — which  appeared  also  in  London 
the  following  year,  much  better  engraved  according  to 
Stauffer — was  re-engraved  on  a  smaller  scale  by  Robert 


64  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Aitken  in  a  fearful  and  wonderful  engraving  {Correct 
View,  etc.)  with  cannon  drawn  on  the  school-boy  principle 
of  two  parallel  lines  with  an  oval  at  each  end.  Two 
farther  interesting  illustrations  of  events  in  the  war,  both 
N.  G.  Inv.  and  engraved  by  John  Norman,  appeared  as 
frontispieces  to  two  books  published  remarkably  soon 
after  the  occurrences  to  which  they  related.  The  first, 
in  "  The  Battle  of  Bunker's  Hill.  By  a  gentleman  of 
Massachusetts"  (Philadelphia,  1776),  depicts  The  Death 
of  Gen.  Warren,  crudely,  yet  with  rough  dramatic  vigor. 
The  other,  Death  of  Montgomery,  in  the  pamphlet  of 
the  same  name  (Philadelphia,  1777),  is  a  bit  more  theat- 
rical, perhaps,  in  its  strong  contrasts  of  light  and  shade, 
but  looks  surer  in  drawing,  as  in  the  foreshortening  of 
the  two  men  on  the  ground. 

Edward  Savage's  large  Signing  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, in  line  and  stipple,  remained  unfinished;  C.  H. 
Hart  devoted  a  pamphlet  to  this  print  (1905).  It 
opened  the  drama  which  had  its  last  act  in  the  event 
pictured  in  Tanner's  engraving  of  The  Surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis  at  Yorktown,  from  a  drawing  by  J.  F.  Renault. 
J.  F.  Renault  did  also  a  Triumph  of  Liberty,  Engraved 
by  P.  C.  Verger  (1796),  issued  in  France,  with  about  as 
much  truth  to  facts  as  in  the  Yorktown  design.  And,  ad- 
hering to  chronological  sequence,  Amos  Doolittle's  Fed- 
eral Hall  (1790),  from  a  drawing  by  Peter  Lacour 
("the  only  contemporary  view  of  the  inauguration  of 
Washington"),  and  View  of  the  Triumphal  Arch  and 
Colonnade,  erected  in  Boston,  in  Honor  of  the  President, 
1789,  mark  the  inauguration  of  a  new  era.     Not  a  few 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     65 

of  the  engravers  of  these  earlier  plates  lived  well  into 
the  nineteenth  century,  a  period  in  which  a  plentiful  num- 
ber of  engraved  illustrations  of  stirring  Revolutionary 
scenes  saw  the  light. 

War  maps  and  plans,  of  a  timely  interest  equally  ty 
obvious,  were  furnished  during  the  conflict  by  Bernard 
Romans,  Robert  Aitken  (who  copied  Romans's  "  Map 
of  the  Seat  of  War")  and  John  Norman  (Boston,  all 
three)  and  Abernethie  (Charleston,  1785).  J.  Smither 
did  a  map  of  Rhode  Island.  Portraiture  was  bound  to 
develop.  The  Revolutionary  heroes,  who  by  word  and 
deed  helped  to  knit  the  bonds  of  national  interest,  and 
those  who  continued  the  work  in  the  following  construc- 
tive period,  were  depicted  for  public  edification  with 
despatch,  if  not  always  with  neatness.  Revere,  Dearborn, 
Doolittle  and  others  put  their  gravers — one  can  hardly 
say  their  art — at  the  service  of  demand  and  supplied 
pictures  which  have  already  been  sufficiently  characterized 
in  the  quotation  from  W.  L.  Andrews's  book  on  the 
portraiture  of  the  war.  As  recollection  of  these  old 
prints  is  awakened,  one  is  tempted  to  cite  instances:  por- 
traits of  Samuel  Adams  by  Revere  and  Okey,  of  John 
Hancock  by  Revere,  of  various  generals  and  statesmen 
by  John  Norman.  But  Stauffer  has  listed  them  all,  and 
to  him  the  reader  must  go  for  details. 

As  affairs  became  more  settled,  and  more  opportunity 
was  offered  for  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  peace,  there 
came  about  increasing  proficiency  in  the  handling  of  the  » 
engraver's  tools.     There  resulted  also  revision  of  early  J 
impressions ;  prominent  Americans  roughly  portrayed  were 


66  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

again  presented,  with  more  art.  They  were  repeatedly 
pictured  in  certain  cases,  particularly  Franklin  (list  issued  "^ 
by  the  New  York  Public  Library  in  1906),  Jefferson  and 
Lafayette,  but  none  to  anything  like  the  same  extent  as 
Washington.  It  seemed  to  be  the  ambition  of  almost 
every  portrait  engraver  of  those  and  later  days  to  pro- 
duce at  least  one  counterfeit  presentment  of  the  Father  of 
his  Country;  more  than  one  engraver  had  each  several 
Washington  portraits  to  his  credit.  Washington  por-  / 
traiture  has  a  little  literature  of  its  own, — ^by  W.  S.  Baker, 
E.B.Johnston  and  others, — culminating  in  Charles  Henry 
Hart's  "  Catalogue  of  the  Engraved  Portraits  of  Wash- 
ington "  (1904),  published  by  the  Grolier  Club,  with  880 
different  portraits  listed. 

The  foreign  element  in  this  country  had  its  part  in 
preserving  for  future  generations  the  features  of  those 
who  were  prominent  in  directing  the  fortunes  of  the  young 
nation.  Du  Simitiere  (whose  portraits,  says  W.  L.  An-i' 
drews,  are  poor,  though  "  taken  from  life," — they  were 
engraved  by  B.  L.  Prevost,  Paris)  and  St.  Memin  (dealt 
with  in  the  chapter  on  aquatint)  left  particularly  many 
records  of  the  lineaments  of  those  on  whom  the  light  of 
publicity  fell  in  those  days. 

But  abroad,  also,  events  in  our  land  attracted  attention, 
and  portraits  were  produced  that  bore  more  or  less — 
often  less — resemblance  to  the  originals.  Franklin  could 
at  least  be  drawn  from  the  life  by  the  French — vide 
Duplessis  and  Cochin — and  his  face  became  familiar 
throughout  the  land  whose  inhabitants  he  had  quite  cap- 
tured by  his  personality.     But  by  the  time  Cochin's  im- 


y 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     67 

pression  of  him  had  reached  Germany,  it  could  hardly 
be  recognized  in  the  traduction  of  J.  C.  Haid's  mezzotint, 
with  a  rather  Teutonic  aspect,  as  we  may  find  it  also  in 
some  portraits  of  Washington,  or,  later,  of  Lincoln.  Not 
only  were  some  foreign  artists  influenced  by  the  types 
around  them,  but  the  demand  for  portraiture  occasionally 
resulted  in  "  truly  exhaustive  efforts  of  the  artist's  imagi- 
nation," as  W.  L.  Andrews  characterized  John  Michael 
Probst's  conceptions  of  Charles  Lee  and  Putnam.  Such 
fabrications  have  their  notes  of  gaiety :  so  in  a  sober,  quite 
Hollandish,  bearded  "  W.  Pen,"  in  a  book  of  travels  in 
the  United  States,  published  in  Utrecht  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  or  in  Chapman's  bust,  in  stipple,  of  Washington, 
with  side  whiskers,  which  is  simply  his  portrait  of  Capt. 
R.  K.  Porter,  R.  N.,  with  the  name  changed. 

But  the  imaginary  portrait — call  it  "  fake,"  If  you  will 
— was  not  unknown  in  those  days  in  our  own  land,  either. 
The  origin  of  Revere's  "  Col.  Benjamin  Church "  ^ 
(1772)  is  quite  evident  when  you  see  it  side  by  side  with 
the  portrait  of  C.  Churchill  from  Smollett's  "  History  of 
England"  (1758-65).  His  full-length  of  King  Philip, 
as  Andrews  points  out,  has  not  even  that  basis  of  fact, 
but  is  "  evolved  entirely  from  his  own  consciousness." 
The  full-length  Washington  (possibly  by  John  Norman, 
thinks  C.  H.  Hart) ,  "  in  Roman  dress  as  ordered  by  Con- 
gress for  the  monument  to  be  erected  in  Philadelphia," 
was  transformed  from  that  of  Sir  William  de  la  More, 
in  full  coat  of  mail.  One  can  continue  this  paragraph 
on  un-authenticity  to  much  later  dates,  to  include,  for  in- 
stance, the  Franklin  bust  portrait,  of  the  Wilson  type, 


ly 


68  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

engraved  by  F.  Halpin,  which,  despite  its  evidently  eigh- 
teenth century  garb,  did  duty  as  a  picture  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams. Necessity  of  quick  production  gave  rise  to  the 
expedient  of  taking  out  the  head  on  an  already  engraved 
plate  and  substituting  another.  Stauffer  has  pointed  out 
that  the  James  Madison  signed  Bona  del  Parte  sculp  is 
Akin's  portrait  of  Benjamin  Rush,  with  head  and  signa- 
ture changed.  And  A.  H.  Ritchie's  full-length  portrait 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  originally  one  of  Calhoun.  H. 
B.  Hall,  by  the  way,  substituted  a  line-engraved  bust  por- 
trait of  Lincoln  in  an  oval  frame  in  an  old  stipple  engrav- 
ing, representing  Diogenes  leaning  over  the  frame : 

"  Diogenes  his  lantern  needs  no  more, 
An  honest  man  is  found! — the  search  is  o'er." 

Still  quicker  results  could  be  attained  by  changing  only 
the  name  of  the  personage;  so  Michele  Pekenino,  an 
engraver  reconstructed  by  Stauffer,  produced  a  portrait 
of  Bolivar  by  changing  the  lettering  on  his  head  of  A.  B. 
Durand.  And  the  portrait  of  James  Arlington  Bennet, 
LL.D.,  at  so,  by  Story  and  Atwood  after  J.  Neagle,  ap- 
pears also  with  Bennet's  name  replaced  by  that  of  Aesop. 
A  collector  with  an  eye  for  humor  has  united  In  one  frame 
five  eighteenth  century  woodcuts,  each  representing  the 
profile  of  a  gentleman  in  a  three-cornered  hat.  The  only 
appreciable  difference  is  in  the  names,  which  are:  Richard 
Howel,  Samuel  Adams,  Henry  Lee,  Bradley  (Governor 
of  Rhode  Island)  and  Columbus.  But  "  a  portrait's  a 
portrait,  although  there's  nothing  in  it,"  and  the  enter- 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     69 

prising  publisher  runs  in  a  portrait  of  "  Hendryk  "  Hud- 
son, or  some  equally  doubtful  one,  adding  the  glamor  of 
research  among  pictorial  documents  by  using  the  impres- 
sive caption  "  from  an  old  print,"  a  description  used  im- 
partially for  one  two  centuries  old,  or  only  fifty  years. 

Possibly  the  greater  facility  with  which  stipple  could 
be  executed,  as  compared  with  line-engraving,  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  fact  that  it  is  in  stipple  that  some 
of  the  first  portraits  of  technical  merit  were  produced.  ^ 
The  first  one  of  real  account  by  an  American-born  pro- 
fessional engraver  was  the  work  of  Cornelius  Tiebout,  as  *^ 
is  pointed  out  by  Stauffer,  who  adds  that  Peale  and 
Savage,  though  they  had  issued  earlier  portraits,  were 
painters  who  did  some  occasional  portraits  rather  than 
engravers  by  profession.  The  portrait  by  Tiebout  re-  *^ 
ferred  to  was  that  of  Jay,  published  in  1795  in  London, 
where  Tiebout  had  gone  to  study.  One  of  his  best  is  the 
large  half-length  of  William  White,  D.D.,  after  Stuart, 
the  face  well  modeled  though  pale.  In  the  one  of  Simon 
Snyder  this  paleness  becomes  colorlessness,  a  characteriza- 
tion which  will  apply  to  much  of  the  stipple  work  of 
this  and  of  later  times.  Tiebout  himself  did  sufficient 
work  of  this  thin  quality.  His  memorial  design  of  Wash- 
ington on  a  pedestal,  with  Bowling-Green,  New  York 
City,  in  the  background,  after  Buxton  (1798),  which  ex- 
ists in  an  impression  on  satin,  was  done  in  line,  in  which 
manner  he  had  worked  before  taking  up  stipple,  and  had 
executed  a  plan  of  New  York  for  the  directory  of  that 
city  for  1787. 

Edward    Savage,    painter,    engraver,    publisher    ("A    "^ 


70  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Edward  Savage,"  by  Thomas 
C.  Reed,  Schenectady,  1840),  used  stipple  with  a  certain 
vigor.  His  portrait  of  Franklin  (bespectacled  and  read-  .j 
ing),  after  Martin,  seems  better  in  drawing  and  model- 
ing— perhaps  because  not  designed  by  himself — than  his 
bourgeois-like  Washington  or  the  well-known  Washing- 
ton and  His  Family.  His  small  bust  portrait  of  Wash-  "^ 
ington  (1792)  after  his  own  painting,  and  reproduced 
in  Andrews's  book  on  Revolutionary  portraiture,  shows 
remarkably  minute  stippling  in  the  face.  It  is  almost 
entirely  dotted,  with  a  modicum  of  line  work  on  coat  and 
wig;  an  honest,  careful  job.  His  paintings  were  occa- 
sionally engraved  by  others;  Tanner  did  a  Washington  in 
stipple,  and  David  Edwin  his  Landing  of  Columbus,  pub- 
lished by  Savage  in  1800.  J.  W.  Jarvis  began  as  an  en- 
graver with  Savage,  and  in  a  bitter  attack,  quoted  in 
S.  Isham's  history  of  American  painting,  denied  his  mas- 
ter's authorship  of  the  engravings  issued  under  his  name. 
But  Dunlap's  similar  statement  that  Savage  could  not 
engrave  and  that  his  apprentice  David  Edwin  really  did  ^ 
the  work,  was  emphatically  denied  by  W.  S.  Baker  in 
his  "American  Engravers  and  their  Works"  (1875) 
and  by  C.  H.  Hart  (in  a  paper  presented  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society). 

It  is  said,  by  the  way,  that  when  Edwin  came  to  Phila- 
delphia in  1797  he  found  difficulty  from  the  want  of 
the  necessary  tools  and  a  proper  press.  Edwin  became 
"  one  of  the  most  prolific  and  popular  portrait  engravers 
of  the  period."  Hart  places  him  above  Bartolozzi,  as 
"  superior     in     manner,"     and     contemporary    criticism 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     71 

("  Port- Folio,"  October,  1810,  p.  329)  said  of  his 
quite  indifferent  "  Maternal  affection,"  a  little  mother- 
and-child  genre,  "  his  copy,  both  for  spirit  and  elegance, 
unquestionably  transcends  the  British  original."  His 
plates,  listed  in  Mantle  Fielding's  "  Catalogue  of  the  en- 
graved work  of  David  Edwin"  (1905),  show  marked 
ability  and  facility.  Exigencies  of  production  may  have 
resulted  in  not  a  few  portraits  which  do  not  rise  much 
above  the  average  of,  say.  Chapman  in  England.  But 
his  work  always  shows  skill,  and  includes  such  dignified 
and  able  performances  as  the  large  portraits  of  James 
Madison  and  Thomas  McKean  (1803,  particularly 
good),  after  Stuart,  or  the  Alexander  I,  of  the  smaller 
size  of  the  majority  of  his  portraits,  and  with  the  deli- 
cacy of  a  miniature.  He  did  a  number  of  plates  after  ^ 
Stuart,  of  whose  friendship,  we  are  told,  he  was  exceed- 
ingly proud. 

So   the  use   of  stipple   increased;   its   free  effect,   less     / 
formal  than  that  of  the  line-engraving,  and  a  pleasing 
softness  appropriate  especially  in   the  treatment  of   the 
face,  were  elements  to  commend  it.     A  number  of  our 
engravers,  some  of  them  better  known  by  their  line  work, 
practised  the  dotting  art  more  or  less:  Doolittle  (whose  '^ 
Alexander  I  is  perhaps  the  best  portrait  he  ever  did), 
Thomas  Clarke  (who  did  an  indifferent  Lafayette),  John    ^ 
Galland,  John  James  Barralet  (whose  designs  were  often 
engraved  by  others),  W.  S.  Leney  (who  had  studied  with  J 
P.  W.  Tomkins  in  England),  Alexander  Anderson  (who  J 
executed  a  thin  but  not  bad  military  portrait  after  Jarvis),    , 
Rollinson  (portrait  of  Washington),  Abner  Reed,  Ben-  ^ 


72  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

jamin  Tanner,  the  Mavericks,  Elkanah  Tisdale  and  John 
Scoles.  Two  Englishmen  who  worked  here  for  a  while 
were  H.  Houston  and  Robert  Field.  Houston  drew  and 
engraved  a  rather  stiff  half-length  of  John  Adams,  and 
engraved  a  bust  of  J.  P.  Kemble  (1796),  after  "Stew- 
ard," quite  juicy  in  effect. 

There  was  some  little  use  of  stipple  also  in  landscape 
work.  Examples  of  this  are  Tiebout's  The  Cascade, 
Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  poor  enough,  and  his  Cottage  Scene, 
a  good-sized  plate  after  W.  Bigg. 

Edwin,  Tiebout  and  others  reach  actively  well  into  the 
nineteenth  century,  which  was  to  see  a  general  quick  and 
very  considerable  advance  technically  and  perhaps  some 
loss  of  immediateness,  of  the  freshness  and  roughness  of 
attack  born  of  ignorance  of  methods  or  helplessness. 

Stipple  was  to  be  much  used  for  magazine  illustration,  j 
a  field  in  which  line-engraving  had  already  been  employed 
to  some  extent.  A  few  references  to  this  latter  use  in  Rev- 
olutionary days  have  been  made.  Among  the  periodi- 
cals which  offered  some  opportunity  to  our  line-engravers 
were:  "Royal  American  Magazine"  (Boston:  Revere, 
Callender) ;  "  Pennsylvania  Magazine  "  (Robert  Aitken, 
Poupard)  ;  "  Boston  Magazine  "  (J.  Norman)  ;  "  Co- 
lumbian Magazine"  (Philadelphia:  J.  Trenchard) ; 
"Massachusetts  Magazine"  (Boston:  Samuel  Hill); 
"New  York  Magazine"  (Scoles);  "American  Univer- 
sal Magazine"  (Philadelphia:  Houston,  Smithers, 
Bowes,  Harrison,  Thomas  Clarke).  The  interested 
reader  is  referred  to  P.  L.  Ford's  "  Check  List  of  Ameri- 
can  Magazines   published   in   the   Eighteenth   Century " 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  18TH  CENTURY     73 

(Brooklyn,  1889),  and,  for  lists  of  portraits  published 
in  these  magazines,  as  well  as  in  books  both  American 
and  foreign,  to  W.  L.  Andrews's  work  on  Revolutionary 
portraiture.  During  the  war,  a  considerable  proportion 
of  the  plates  in  these  magazines  naturally  related  to  the 
conflict:  plans,  views,  battle  scenes,  portraits  of  com- 
manders predominated. 

With  the  advent  of  peace  and  of  national  development 
there  came  increasing  cultivation  of  art  and  consequently 
increasing  production  of  books  with  illustrations.  There 
had  been  the  occasional  portrait  or  map  in  a  volume — 
our  earliest  engraved  portrait  was  so  Issued,  as  we  have 
seen,  engraved  as  well  as  the  early  artificers  knew,  for 
better,  for  worse, — practically  always  for  worse.  Direct  / 
book-Illustration  with  copper-plate  engravings  had  also 
begun,  not  always  with  happiest  results,  as  we  have  seen 
in  the  case  of  Norman,  who,  by  the  way,  did  also  a 
frontispiece  and  fifteen  plates  for  the  Fables  of  iEsop 
by  Robert  Dodsley  (Philadelphia:  Robert  Bell,  1777). 
Now,  more  systematic  and  extended  Illustration  was  at- 
tempted. David  Longworth  of  New  York  brought  out 
an  edition  of  Telemachus  with  plates  by  Thomas  Clarke, 
Scoles  engraved  a  frontispiece,  sufliciently  hard,  after  Tis- 
dale,  and  there  were  other  evidences  of  this  increased 
activity.  This  found  an  outlet  especially  In  editions  of 
the  Bible,  recorded  in  E.  B.  O'Callaghan's  "  List  of  Edi- 
tions of  the  Holy  Scriptures  .  .  .  printed  in  America 
previous  to  i860."  There  was  the  one  published  in  1791 
by  Isaiah  Thomas,  with  thirty-two  plates  by  J.  H.  Sey- 
mour, and  Brown's  Bible,  brought  out  in  1792  with  en- 


74  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

gravlngs  by  Tiebout,  Maverick,  Doolittle,  RoUinson,  A. 
Godwin,  and  Collins's  Quarto  Bible,  of  which  the  second 
edition  appeared  in  1807.  The  publication  of  cyclopedias  y 
began,  too,  calling  for  much  illustration, — for  instance, 
Dobson's  edition  of  Rees'  Encyclopaedia  (i 794-1 803). 
And  with  such  undertakings,  extending  by  their  dates  of 
issue  into  the  nineteenth  century,  we  pass  out  of  the 
eighteenth  into  the  hopes  and  aims  and  achievements  of 
a  new  period. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LINE  AND  STIPPLE   IN   THE   NINETEENTH 
CENTURY 

In  the  new  century  there  came  a  marked  increase  in 
the  number  of  engravers,  together  with  a  noteworthy 
advance  in  technical  ability.  Two  important  factors  in 
the  development  of  engraving  were  the  demand  for  mag- 
azine and  book  illustration  and  the  need  of  well-executed 
bank-notes.  Such  work  gave  occupation  to  our  engravers 
and  brought  increase  to  their  numbers.  Periodicals  such 
as  the  "Polyanthos"  (Boston),  "Port-Folio,"  "The 
Analectic,"  Delaplaine's  "  Emporium  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences"  (Philadelphia)  and  the  "Rhode  Island  Literary 
Repository,"  all  issued  between  1800  and  1820,  laid 
some  stress  on  the  portraits  and  views  by  Edwin,  Hamlin, 
•^  T.  Gimbrede,  S.  Harris,  Snyder  and  others,  which  they  ^ 
offered  their  readers.  From  the  technical  standpoint,  one 
may  run  with  some  satisfaction  through  the  files  of  the 
'^  Port-Folio,"  for  example,  and  note  the  increased  assur-^ 
ance  and  skill  with  which  the  artists  handled  their  tools, 
particularly  in  the  production  of  portraits  after  Stuart, 
Wood  and  others.  Stipple  was  the  medium  usually 
chosen  for  the  latter.  Previously,  in  such  dotted  portraits 
as  those  of  Wayne  by  Harris  and  again  by  Tanner,  and 
of  S.  Adams  by  Tanner,  the  pale  gray,  somewhat  washed- 
out  effect  reminds  one  a  little  of  the  colorless,  anemic, 

75 


76  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

very  early  German  lithographs — "  Polyautographs." 
Now,  the  paleness  of  the  earlier  work  had  given  way 
to  more  vigorous  and  varied  handling,  giving  richer  effect 
without  loss  of  delicacy.  See,  for  example,  the  stipple 
portraits  in  Delaplaine's  "  Repository'  of  the  Lives  and 
Portraits  of  distinguished  American  Characters"  (Phila- 
delphia, 1 8 15),  by  Edwin  Boyd,  Longacre,  W.  S.  Leney 
(a  smooth,  dexterous  worker),  W.  R.  Jones,  Goodman 
&  Piggot  and  J.  Heath.  In  not  a  few  cases  during  this 
period,  indeed,  this  new  force  runs  to  a  heavy  black,  almost 
as  colorless  as  the  washed-out  gray  of  the  preceding  period. 
But  this  tendency  to  black,  again,  may  rise  to  a  richness 
that  is  of  a  resounding  sonority  in  J.  B.  Longacre's  large 
portrait  of  Andrew  Jackson,  after  Sully.  That  work  of 
individuality  and  distinction  is  executed  with  a  force  and 
breadth  in  accord  with  the  size  of  the  plate. 

Longacre,  who  later  became  engraver  to  the  U.  S.  Mint, 
managed  to  get  some  color  and  life  into  even  his  least 
important  portraits;  his  small  Alexander  Macomb  after 
Sully  is  quite  delightful  in  its  easy  flow  and  unctuousness. 
He  had  a  noteworthy  part  in  raising  the  standard  of 
engraving  in  this  country.  In  connection  with  James 
Herring  he  undertook  the  publication  of  "  The  National 
Portrait  Gallery  of  distinguished  Americans "  (New 
York,  1834-39,  4  volumes),  a  collection  of  portraits  with 
biographical  sketches.  It  is  said  that  the  standard  of 
excellence  for  the  engravings  was  set  so  high  that  after 
employing  the  best  engravers  in  the  country,  others  had 
to  be  brought  over  from  Europe.  It  was  good  stipple 
work  that  this  venture  brought  forth,  showing  practical 


Andrew  Jackson 
After  Sully.      Stipple  engraving  by  J.  B.  Longacre 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     77 

craftsmanship,  and  characterized  by  a  certain  vigor.  A 
number  of  the  plates  were  by  Longacre  himself  (some 
after  his  own  drawings  from  life) ,  others  by  T.  B.  Welch, 
George  Parker,  Prud'homme,  E.  Wellmore,  W.  A.  Wil-v^ 
mer,  I.  B.  Forrest,  J.  Gross,  etc.  Other  engravers,  in- 
cluding not  a  few  workers  in  line,  were  identified  with 
this  art  of  the  dot  during  1 800-1 840:  W.  Haines,  Abel 
Bowen,  C.  Gobrecht,  Thomas  Gimbrede  and  his  son  J.  N.  ^ 
Gimbrede,  J.  R.  Smith,  George  Graham,  Joseph  Cone, 
John  Vallance,  John  Boyd,  Bridport  and  W.  R.  Jones. 
Not  all  the  work  was  good;  in  fact  as  late  as  18 12 
one  may  come  across  portraits  such  as  those  by  John 
Eckstein  in  which  to  helplessness  before  the  copper-plate  1/ 
there  is  added  the  aggravating  provincial  assurance  of  the 
insufficiently  equipped  designer  (Eckstein  himself).  But 
on  the  whole,  as  already  indicated,  these  stipple  engravers 
worked  with  an  increased  ability  and  discrimination,  and 
in  certain  instances  they  were  apparently  spurred  on  to 
better  efforts  by  the  merits  of  the  original  which  they 
copied.  Hence  their  work  varied,  and  from  the  mass  of 
smoothly  executed  stipple  plates  there  stand  out  various 
portraits.  Thomas  Gimbrede's  James  Monroe  after  /.  -^ 
Van  Der  Lyn,  Vallance's  Hugh  Blair,  Bridport's  luscious 
Conwell  and  Boyd's  strong  and  broad  John  Fennell  after 
Wood  are  in  each  case  probably  the  best  portrait  by  the 
respective  engraver.  Smith's  James  Bowdoin  has  both 
delicacy  and  swing,  and  his  portraits  of  Commodores 
Rodgers  and  Bainbridge  show  grasp  of  character.  There 
is  a  certain  delicacy  in  Cone's  miniature  A.  H.  Judson, 
ond  color  and  verve  in  Philip  Tidyman  after  Sully  by 


78  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

T.  B.  Welch  and  A.  B.  Walter.  And  the  last-named 
painter's  D.  D.  Tompkins  is  well  caught,  in  the  suave 
sweep  of  the  modeling  in  the  face,  by  Jones. 

There  was  some  use  of  stipple  also  for  views  and 
historical  pieces,  say  G.  G.  Smith's  U.  S.  Squadron  under 
Commodore  Bainbridge  returning  triumphant  from  the 
Mediterranean  in  1815,  designed  by  J.  B.  Fanning,  or 
William  Birch's  small  views  of  The  Country  Seats  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  last,  stipple  and  line  are  combined, 
and  hand-coloring  farther  serves  to  smooth  over  things. 
Birch's  Views  of  Philadelphia  had  come  out  in  1798-1800, 
and  before  that  he  had  done,  while  still  in  England 
(1789),  such  a  dainty  little  plate  as  A  View  from  Mr. 
Cosway's  Breakfast  Room.  The  last-named  was  in  al- 
most pure  stipple,  but  usually,  in  landscapes  and  figure 
pieces,  the  line  entered  more  or  less  to  re-enforce  the  dots, 
— although  Tiebout  did  without  such  aid  in  his  wooden 
The  Cascade,  Luzerne  Co.,  Pa.  In  portraiture,  stipple 
undefiled  was  nearly  always  used  for  faces  and  back- 
grounds, and  sometimes  even  for  the  whole  plate,  as 
one  may  see  in  some  by  Longacre,  Welch  {Franklin), 
W.  A,  Wilmer,  or  Prud'homme  {Henry  Lee)  in  the 
Longacre-Herring  "  Portrait  Gallery."  And  even  the 
use  of  the  line,  particularly  for  the  clothes,  in  the  hands 
of  certain  men  lost  some  of  the  insistence  which  others 
gave  it. 

This  did  not  remain  so,  however.  The  softer  effect 
of  dots — etched,  dry-pointed  or  flicked  with  the  graver 
— in  engraving  the  faces  of  portraits,  appreciated  quite 
early  in   the   history  of  engraving,   was  utilized   in   our 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     79 

country,  too.     John  Norman  had  begun  to  apply  a  mix- 
ture of  graver-work  and  stipple  in  his  portraits  of  Revo- 
lutionary heroes.     So,  with  Revere  (in  the  rare  portrait 
of  Jonathan   Mayhew),   Poupard  and  others,  he   fore- 
shadowed the  "  mixed  manner  "  which  in  the  middle  of    J 
the  nineteenth  century  degenerated  into  the  production 
of  a  characterless,  machine-made  sauce,  in  which  certain 
engravers  served  all  their  portraits  in  the  same  spice-less 
manner.    One  may  study  this  as  early  as  1853-54  in  John 
Livingston's    "  Portraits   of   Eminent   Americans "   with 
plates  by  various  engravers.     There  is  one  by  Frederick 
Halpin,  for  instance,  with  the  face  in  stipple,  the  hair; 
in  line,  the  coat  rouletted  and  the  background  ruled.     Yet ; 
Halpin  could  do  portraits  as  good  as  that  of  J.  F.  Kensett  1 
after  George  H.   Baker;  he  had  not  only  a  distinctive  1 
manner  but  a  manner  of  a  certain  distinction.  ' 

Meanwhile,  the  art  of  line-engraving  had  likewise 
been  developed.  There  was  still  some  of  the  occasional 
work — cards,  certificates  and  what  not — at  which  we 
found  the  eighteenth  century  engravers  busy.  William 
Main,  a  pupil  of  Morghen  (whose  hast  Supper  after  Da 
Vinci  inspired  Kearny,  J.  B.  Neagle,  Pease  and  Burt  each 
to  attempt  the  same  subject) ,  said  in  a  letter  to  Dunlap 
that  most  of  his  early  engraving  was  of  "  visiting  cards, 
door  plates  and  dog  collars."  One  may  come  across  such 
pieces  as  an  advertising  view  of  a  hotel  in  Augusta  (1822) 
by  Neagle  after  Shaw,  or  a  card  for  Clark  &  Raymond's 
"  fashionable  hat  store,"  New  York,  after  J.  R.  Smith 
by  P.  Maverick,  who  applied  cupids  to  commercial  needs 
in  his  cards  for  A.  Maverick  and  for  Boureau  &  Co.'s 


J 


80  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

jewelry  and  hardware  store.  Thackara,  Hamlin  and 
others  found  similar  employment.  Here,  too,  may  be 
noted  P.  Maverick's  card  for  Columbia  College  Com- 
mencement, 1822.  Maverick's  own  announcement,  by 
the  way,  issued  from  149  Broadway,  includes  engraving, 
copper-plate  printing,  lithography;  and  hank-notes  en- 
graved on  copper  or  steel,  with  all  the  variety  of  die  work 
and  machine  facilities  now  in  use. 

Book-illustration  in  line  increased.  Various  editions 
of  the  Bible  were  brought  out, — Collins's  Quarto,  and 
Brown's,  and  the  Carey  Bibles,  during  1790-18 15 — ^with 
*/  plates  by  Doollttle,  Anderson,  Rolllnson,  P.  R.  Maverick, 
Tisdale,  Tanner  and  Tiebout,  representing  about  the 
worst  of  which  those  engravers  were  capable.  Very 
much  better  in  their  way  and  for  their  purpose  were  the 
numerous  illustrations  in  science,  natural  history  and  use- 
ful arts,  pictures  of  instruments,  mechanical  contrivances 
and  what  not,  which  appeared  in  those  important  and 
voluminous  undertakings,  the  American  edition  of  Rees' 
Encyclopaedia  (Philadelphia:  Dobson,  1794- 1803)  and 
the  Philadelphia  edition  (1806-13)  of  the  Edinburgh  En- 
cyclopaedia. 

There  was,  of  course,  no  particular  opportunity  In  these 
encyclopedias  for  any  display  of  artistic  qualities.  But 
no  doubt  it  meant,  not  only  bread  and  butter,  but  good 
practice  for  the  engravers  engaged  In  the  work.  And 
these  latter  included  practically  all  the  American  line- 
engravers  of  any  note  in  those  days :  Falrman,  Akin,  Scot, 
Allardlce,  Exillous,  Edwin,  C.  G.  Chllds,  S.  Seymour, 
J.   H.   Seymour,  Gobrecht,  A.  Lawson,   D.   Haines,   R. 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     8i 

Campbell,  Tiebout,  Tanner,  Thackara,  Longacre,  Kearny, 
Kneass,  Vallance,  Anderson  and  even  William  Charles 
(who  did  two  plates  in  soft-ground  etching). 

More  latitude  would  naturally  be  offered  in  illustrations 
for  works  of  belles-lettres,  and  these,  too,  increased  and 
improved;  the  Improvement  relative,  of  course.  One 
does  not  find  a  Moreau  here,  nor  even  a  Chodowiecki. 
When  designer  and  engraver  were  both  of  native  origin 
in  the  earlier  days,  one  might  look  for  results  such  as 
those  in  a  scene  from  "  The  Contrast,"  by  P.  Maverick, 
IV.  Dunlap  inv.  et  del.,  fearful  to  behold,  in  design  and 
execution.  Compared  with  that,  E.  Tisdale's  designs  for 
the  poetical  works  of  John  Trumbull  (Hartford,  1820), 
engraved  by  W.  H.  Bassett  and  Tisdale  himself,  though 
not  remarkable  productions,  show  at  least  more  ease. 
And  designers  and  engravers  improved  in  time.  In  the 
early  decades  of  the  century,  line-plates  in  books  were 
engraved,  frequently  after  English  originals  for  American 
reprints,  by  Joseph  H.  Seymour  (Hayley's  "  Triumph  of 
Temper"),  Scot  and  Allardice  (Campbell's  edition  of 
Hume's  History  of  England),  Rollinson  (a  quite  grace- 
ful title-page  for  a  Horace  of  1830),  Gideon  Fairman 
(vignettes  for  title-pages;  he  designed  also  for  other  en- 
gravers), C.  G.  Childs  (plates  after  Inman  for  "The 
Spy,"  Philadelphia,  1822-24;  after  Stothard  for  "  Heart 
of  Midlothian  "),  J.  B.  Neagle  after  W.  M.  Craig  and 
English  designers,  and  Tanner  after  Corbould.  P. 
Maverick  did  illustrations  after  Thurston,  Stothard,  Cor- 
bould, Burney  and  Westall,  for  "  Lalla  Rookh,"  "  Senti- 
mental   Journey,"    "  Tristram    Shandy,"    and    Hayley's 


82  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

"Triumphs  of  Temper,"  New  York,  1809,  In  the  last, 
the  Httle  engravings  are  scattered  through  the  text,  an 
unusual  matter.  Alexander  Lawson  engraved  illustra- 
tions after  J.  J.  Barralet,  and  did  plates  for  Alexander 
Wilson's  work  of  ornithology.  A  paper  on  Lawson  by 
Townsend  Ward  was  read  before  the  Pennsylvania  His- 
torical Society  in  1878,  and  it  appears  that  "a  consider- 
able collection  "  of  his  engravings  is  in  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia. 

The  frequent  occurrence  of  the  names  of  English  de- 
signers in  this  list  indicates,  of  course,  that  the  engrav- 
ings were  copied  from  the  English  originals  in  the  books 
for  the  American  reprints  of  which  they  were  prepared. 
Tiebout  similarly  did,  in  stipple,  illustrations  to  Cowper 
and  other  authors  after  such  English  artists  as  Smirke. 

Then,  in  the  late  twenties  and  in  the  thirties,  there 
were  the  neatly  engraved  little  views  of  New  York  City 
(published  by  Bourne,  1831)  after  C.  Burton,  by  Fenner 
&  Sears,  W.  D.  Smith,  Gimber,  Hatch  &  Smillie  and 
H.  Fossette  (who  also  engraved  after  his  own  designs)  ; 
after  A.  I.  Stansbury  by  Rawdon,  Clark  &  Co.  (1828) 
or  Danforth;  after  J.  H.  Dakin  by  Barnard  &  Dick. 
Later  came  such  publications  as  Hinton's  "  History  and 
Topography  of  the  United  States  "  (Boston,  1834)  with 
illustrations,  generally  drawn  by  American  artists,  and 
most  of  them  engraved  by  John  Archer. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  century,  there  naturally  fell 
to  the  engraver  also  the  illustration  of  important  current 
events.  In  our  age  of  the  camera,  daily  happenings  are 
chronicled  pictorially  with  an  easy  copiousness  that  gives 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     83 

a  momentary  importance  to  innumerable  persons,  things 
or  occurrences  with  which  the  old-time  engravers  could 
not  have  occupied  their  burins.  They  recorded  such 
matters  of  moment  as  particularly  interested,  or  deeply 
stirred,  their  contemporaries.  For  instance,  the  landing 
of  Lafayette,  pictured  by  Samuel  Maverick  (1824,  pub-  v/ 
lished  by  Imbert),  or  the  launch  of  the  steam  frigate 
Fulton,  by  Tanner  (1815)  after  a  drawing  by  Barralet. 
The  War  of  18 12  naturally  called  forth  graven  records 
of  victories  on  land  and  sea.  Tanner  seems  to  have  been 
particularly  busy  in  depicting  naval  actions.  He  glorified 
Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  18 13,  /.  /.  Barralet  delt. 
(1815),  and  Macdonough's  on  Lake  Champlain,  18 14, 
H.  Reinagle  pinxt  ( 1 8 1 6) , and  pictured  United  States  and 
Macedonia,  T.  Birch  pinxt  (1813).  Two  views  of  the 
Battle  of  Lake  Erie,  by  Sully  and  Kearny,  were  engraved 
by  Murray,  Draper,  Fairman  &  Co.,  and  Thomas 
Birch's  painting  of  Perry's  victory  was  reproduced  by 
A.  Lawson. 

The  growing  country  was  to  be  pictured,  too,  both  In  y 
its  urban  aspects  and  in  its  natural  beauties  and  wonders. 
Previously,  in  the  last  dozen  years  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, the  production  of  views  had  already  begun  to  in- 
crease. S.  Hill,  for  instance,  drew  and  engraved  a  view 
of  Cambridge  for  the  "  Massachusetts  Magazine  "  and 
one  of  the  seat  of  John  Hancock  for  the  same  publication 
(1789).  Similarly,  in  the  "New  York  Magazine,"  we 
find  views  by  Tiebout :  Trinity  Church,  after  I.  Anderson 
(1790),  Columbia  College  after  I.  Anderson  and  Rich- 
mond Hill    (1790).     The   Mavericks  and  Birch  were 


84  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

also  working  before  1800,  and  after  that  date  the  younger 
Maverick  did  some  creditable  little  views  after  W.  G. 
Wall  {New  York  City,  from  New  Jersey  existing  in  at 
least  three  states),  Alexander  Robertson  and  Inman. 
Like  Birch,  Cephas  G.  Childs  published  a  set  of  views 
of  Philadelphia  (1827-30),  most  of  them  engraved  by 
himself,  and  John  Exilious  had  engraved  from  his  own 
drawing  a  large  view  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital. 
Just  a  few  instances  these,  representing  a  respectable 
amount  of  production. 

The  Philadelphia  "  Port  Folio,"  edited  by  "  Oliver 
Oldschool,"  occasionally  published  line-engraved  views, 
and  in  running  through  the  volumes  of  that  old  periodical 
one  may  stop  to  note  with  amusement  that  when  the 
picture  of  the  Catskills,  with  a  steamboat  in  the  foreground 
(by  Hewitt  after  J.  Glennie),  was  changed  by  taking  the 
sail  off  the  boat,  the  engraver,  in  the  hurry  of  a  "  rush 
order,"  or  perhaps  solely  through  carelessness,  omitted  to 
remove  the  reflection  of  the  sail  in  the  water. 

In  the  twenties  Hill  and  Bennett  were  doing  their  large 
aquatint  views,  and  in  the  forties  and  fifties  came  the 
large  views  such  as  the  ones  of  New  York  City  from 
the  Latting  Observatory  (1855)  by  W.  Wellstood  after 
B.  E.  Smith. 

If  such  views  met  the  demands  of  an  interest  in  locality, 
we  find  also  engravings  which  mirror  the  growing  atten- 
tion paid  by  American  painters  to  landscape.  This  is 
felt  in  such  an  early  production  as  The  American  Land- 
scape, engraved  by  A,  B.  Durand,  which  did  not  live  be- 
yond the  six  plates  of  No.  i  (1830).     It  appears  notably 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     85 

in  the  large  plates  after  Thomas  Cole's  series  of  paintings, 
The  Voyage  of  Life,  by  James  Smillle,  our  most  able 
landscape  engraver.  This  growing  appreciation  of  the 
landscape  per  se  is  reflected  also  in  smaller  plates  by 
Hinshelwood  and  others  after  Huntington,  J.  W.  Casilear 
(himself,  like  the  painters  Durand,  Kensett,  Nathaniel 
Jocelyn,  J.  A.  Oertel  and  Shirlaw,  originally  an  engraver), 
James  M.  and  W.  Hart,  Jervis  McEntee,  W.  L.  Sonntag, 
D.  Johnson,  S.  R.  Gifford,  A.  D.  Shattuck  and  A.  Bier- 
stadt.  The  want  of  any  geographical  label  in  Doughty's 
Mountain  Stream  (reproduced  in  a  mechanical  but  fairly 
delicate  little  plate  by  J.  B.  Neagle)  is  not  quite  typical 
of  all  this,  however.  The  topographical  feeling  was 
naturally  still  strong  in  much  of  this  work,  the  exact 
reproduction  of  the  definite  locality.  It  is  very  easy  to  / 
have  a  fling  at  the  "  Hudson  River  School."  The  time 
was  not  ripe  then  for  the  painting  of  the  landscape  for 
the  sake  of  the  mood  it  inspires.  (Easily  enough  may 
that  mood  to-day  become  the  mannered  duplicate  or  tripli- 
cate or  quadruplicate  of  a  condition  of  the  soul  experi- 
enced long  since.)  Yet  one  gets  the  impression  from 
these  paintings,  and  from  the  well-executed  plates  which 
perpetuate  them,  that  in  many  cases  the  painters  honestly 
loved  their  subjects.  Durand  painted  his  tree-trunks,  for 
instance,  with  understanding  and  sympathy.  And  It  wa.. 
not  only  the  large  and  pretentiously  impressive  scenes  a  la 
Church  or  Cole  that  were  painted.  The  same  Durand 
who  depicted  the  "  White  Mountain  Scenery :  Franconia 
Notch,"  panoramic  in  its  comprehensiveness,  did  also  the 
cool,  restful  wood  interior,  of  Intimate  charm,  which  for 


86  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

years  hung  opposite  to  it  in  the  old  Lenox  Library  Build- 
ing in  New  York  City.  These  painters  found  beauty  in 
their  home  land,  and  told  their  compatriots  of  it,  and 
the  message  was  spread  farther  by  the  engravers  who 
reproduced  their  works. 

Some  of  the  latest  products  of  this  spirit  are  found  in 
the  clear-cut,  if  not  remarkable,  plates  in  "  The  National 
Gallery  of  American  Landscape  "  (New  York:  W.  Pate  & 
Co.)  by  J.  D.  Smillie,  Pease,  H.  S.  Beckwith,  Wellstood, 
Hinshelwood  and  others,  the  last  two  mentioned,  together 
with  S.  V.  Hunt  and  others,  being  engaged  also  in  some- 
What  thinner  work  for  "  Picturesque  America  "  (New 
York,  1874)  after  Bierstadt,  Church,  Bellows  and 
Kensett. 

But  the  last  was  a  chronological  divagation,  and  re- 
turning to  mid-century  there  are  found  freshness  and 
immediateness  of  view  also  in  the  figure  paintings  of  the 
time,  by  W.  S.  Mount,  F.  W.  Edmonds,  R.  Caton  Wood- 
ville,  W.  Ranney  et  al.  These  were  done  with  a  healthy 
interest  in  the  daily  life  and  home  doings  of  the  small 
man  of  the  street  and  the  country  in  the  East,  the  flatboat- 
man  of  the  Ohio,  the  pioneers  and  trappers  of  the  West. 
The  line-engravings  in  which  these  works  were  repro- 
duced served  a  distinct  and  educational  purpose  in  bring- 
ing before  a  larger  public  a  knowledge  of  paintings,  of 
the  progress  of  American  art,  and  of  the  spirit  that 
actuated  it. 

The  beauties  of  our  land, — both  in  its  wilder  aspects 
and  in  the  calmer  beauty  of  rural  scenery  in  the  more 
closely  inhabited  East; — scenes  in  our  national  history; 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     87 

the  life  of  the  Indian  and  the  trapper;  the  farmer  at 
work  and  at  play,  driving  a  horse  trade,  whittling  a  stick, 
or  listening  to  "  Old  Dan  Tucker  "  or  some  other  popu- 
lar air  of  the  day  scraped  by  a  fiddler  of  local  reputation, 
such  aspects  of  our  life  and  surroundings  were  brought 
before  our  public  both  in  smaller  engravings  and  in  the 
large  framing  prints  so  popular  then.  There  were  repro- 
duced, in  small  and  large  plates,  such  paintings  as  W.  S. 
Mount's  Swapping  Horses  ( engraved  by  Joseph  Andrews, 
1839),  The  Raffle,  The  Painter's  Study  (engraved  by 
A.  Lawson),  Long  Island  Farmer  (engraved  by  Hinshel- 
wood).  The  Tough  Story,  The  Rabbit  Trap  and  The  dis- 
agreeable Surprise  (the  last  three  engraved  by  J.  I. 
Pease)  ;  H.  Inman's  Mumble  the  Peg;  J.  G.  Clonney's 
Militia  Training  (engraved  by  J.  I.  Pease)  ;  J.  L.  Krim- 
mel's  Election  Day  in  Philadelphia,  by  Lawson;  and  W. 
Ranney's  The  Trapper's  last  Shot  (engraved  by  T.  D. 
Booth,  of  Cincinnati).  The  very  titles  indicate  the  assid- 
uous cultivation  of  an  American  genre,  in  place  of  the 
sweetly  sentimental  variety  once  fostered  in  engravings 
such  as  those  by  E.  Gallaudet.  These  painters  did,  ac- 
cording to  their  light,  practise  the  principle  preached  in 
"  Faust,"  "  Grasp  the  exhaustless  life  that  all  men  live." 
And  when  arguments  against  the  "  anecdotal  genre  "  are 
exhausted,  the  question  remains:  was  not  this  home  prod- 
uct preferable  to  the  weak  sentimentality — "  once  re- 
moved," or  twice,  or  thrice,  from  original  sources — of 
certain  souls  expatriated  in  fact  or  in  mood,  whose  foreign 
scenery  or  Italian  shepherd  boys  are  weak  reconstructions 
on  old  recipes? 


88  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Good  work  was  done  in  the  large  framing  prints.  Al- 
fred Jones  engraved  Farmer's  Nooning  ("Apollo  Asso- 
ciation," 1843)  after  W.  S.  Mount,  5p^r^i«^  (1844)  and 
The  New  Scholar  (1850),  both  after  F.  W.  Edmonds, 
and  Mexican  News  (1851)  after  R.  C.  Woodville. 
Woodville's  Old  'yd  and  young  '^8  was  put  into  black- 
and-white  by  J.  I.  Pease.  Ranney's  Duck  Shooting,  R.  C. 
Woodville's  Card  Players  (1850)  and  Mount's  Bargain- 
ing for  a  Horse  (1851)  were  reproduced  by  Charles 
Burt,  a  catalogue  of  whose  work,  by  Alice  Burt,  was 
printed  in  New  York  in  1893.  All  of  these  were  issued 
as  premiums  by  the  American  Art  Union,  which  flourished 
particularly  in  the  forties  and  fifties  and  had  its  "  Bulle- 
tin "  in  which  were  published  reduced  copies  of  these  en- 
gravings as  incentives  to  subscription.  Similar  associa- 
tions were  the  Art  Union  of  Philadelphia  and  the  Western 
Art  Union.  It  is  recorded  also  that  the  Western  Metho- 
dist Book  Concern,  "  by  its  publication  of  good  engrav- 
ings, exercised  a  decided  influence  on  public  taste  in  that 
section  of  the  country."  This  Western  firm  employed 
William  Wellstood,  who  also  reproduced  American  paint- 
ings. 

Mount's  work,  as  is  seen,  was  much  reproduced;  even 
Leon  Noel,  the  French  lithographer,  did  on  stone  his 
Power  of  Music  ( 1 848 )  and  Music  is  Contagious  ( 1 849) . 

Inevitably,  weak  and  colorless  paintings  were  also  en- 
graved, illustrating  no  national  spirit  or  characteristics, 
examples  of  fatuous  story-telling  art. 

In  plates  of  the  character  of  those  which  have  been 
mentioned,  what  there  was  of  dignity  or  raciness  or  hu- 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     89 

mor  in  the  appeal  of  American  painters  on  the  ground  of 
such  national  beauty  or  interest  as  it  was  given  to  them 
to  see,  was  transmitted  to  wider  circles  than  the  paintings 
alone  would  have  reached.  To  us,  to-day,  these  plates 
are  not  only  reproductions  of  the  works  of  painters  of  a 
bygone  day,  but  decidedly  interesting  records  of  the  cos- 
tume and  customs,  the  mental  and  moral  viewpoint  of 
our  people  at  that  time. 

Furthermore,  striking  scenes  in  our  history  were 
seized  by  painters  and  re-told  by  the  graver:  Plymouth 
Rock  (1869)  by  Joseph  Andrews  and  Patrick  Henry 
delivering  his  celebrated  Speech  in  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
Virginia,  1^65  by  Alfred  Jones  (1852),  both  after  P.  F. 
Rothermel;  Capture  of  Andre  after  Durand,  figures  en- 
graved by  Jones,  landscape  by  Smillie  and  Hinshelwood 
(1845);  ^^rion  crossing  the  Pedee  after  W.  Ranney 
(1851),  by  Burt;  Washington  at  Valley  Forge  by  E.  S. 
Best,  and  Franklin  before  the  Lords  in  Council  by  Robert 
Whitechurch,  both  after  Schussele.  Lady  Washington's 
Reception  Day  after  Huntington  and  On  the  March  to 
the  Sea  after  Darley  (of  which  latter  an  interesting 
"  touched  "  copy  from  Barley's  collection  can  be  seen  in 
the  New  York  print  room)  were  both  engraved  by  A.  H. 
Ritchie  (who  sometimes  worked  also  after  his  own  de- 
sign, as  in  the  Death  of  Lincoln).  These  examples  are 
not  by  any  means  all  cited  as  particularly  remarkable  en- 
gravings, but  rather  as  indications  of  the  taste  of  the 
time  and  the  tasks  it  set  our  engravers. 

Of  course,  the  artists  of  those  days  did  not  limit  their 
activities  to  American  subjects.     The  historical  genre  was 


90  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

cultivated.  Leutze  painted  The  Ivtage  Breakers,  en- 
graved by  Jones  (1850;  won  high  praise) ,  and  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  parting  with  his  Wife  by  Burt  (1846).  Among 
the  paintings  of  J.  W.  Glass  is  the  Standard  Bearer,  and 
among  those  of  Daniel  Huntington  The  Signing  of  the 
Death  Warrant  of  Lady  Jane  Grey  by  Burt  (1848). 
Shakespeare  inspired  effort  {Anne  Page,  Slender  and 
Shallow  by  Burt,  1850,  after  Leslie).  The  gorgeous- 
ness  of  tropical  scenery  was  depicted  by  F.  E.  Church. 
The  Bible  story  was  told  and  the  moral  lesson  incul- 
cated (D.  Huntington),  the  pictorial  allegory  was  rep- 
resented by  Thomas  Cole's  two  series,  Voyage  of  Life 
engraved  by  Smillie,  and  "  Course  of  Empire."  And  in 
the  realm  of  the  ideal  there  is  to  be  recorded,  primarily, 
the  noble  translation  of  John  Vanderlyn's  Ariadne,  done 
in  1835  by  A.  B.  Durand,  who  was  particularly  successful 
in  his  rendering  of  flesh.  Koehler  described  this  Ariadne 
as  "  the  largest  plate  of  such  high,  artistic  achievement 
that  ever  appeared  in  America,  of  a  purity  and  grace  of 
graver-work  in  the  figure  of  Ariadne — the  landscape  is 
mainly  in  etching — that  need  fear  no  comparison.  This 
was  Durand's  last  plate ;  he  laid  down  the  graver  to  take 
up  the  brush.  The  results  of  fifteen  years'  work  as  an 
engraver — his  first  important  production  having  been  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  (1820)  after  Trumbull — 
are  listed  in  the  "  Catalogue "  issued  by  the  Grolier 
Club  in  1895.  His  "Life"  (1894)  was  written  by  his 
son  John. 

Our  engravers,  by  the  way,  cut  some  figure  in  the  art 
world  in  the  first  half  of  the  last  century,   if  we  may 


bJ3 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     91 

judge  from  the  records  of  the  National  Academy  of  De- 
sign. A  number  of  them  were  members,  and  some 
founders,  of  that  body:  P.  Maverick,  M.  J.  Danforth, 
Durand,  W.  J.  Bennett,  W.  Main,  C.  C.  Wright,  J.  A. 
Adams,  J.  W.  Paradise,  Prud'homme,  S.  W.  Cheney,  Al- 
fred Jones,  James  Smillie,  A.  H.  Ritchie,  dates  of  election 
running  from  1826  to  1871. 

Meanwhile,  during  all  these  years,  the  demand  and 
supply  for  and  of  portraits  increased  enormously,  and 
the  field  was  soon  left  mainly  to  line-engraving.  The 
use  of  stipple  waned  and  appeared  at  most  in  the  machine- 
made  effect  of  the  "  mixed  manner  "  in  the  sixties  and 
seventies,  in  which  etching,  graver-work,  machine-ruling, 
stipple,  rouletting,  mezzotint  and  what  not  were  pressed 
into  service  to  get  quick  and  smooth  results. 

Delaplaine's  "Repository"  (18 15),  beside  its  stipple 
portraits,  had  had  others  in  line  by  G.  Fairman,  Maverick 
and  Neagle.  Longacre  and  Herring's  *'  Portrait  Gal- 
lery "  was  also  varied  by  the  inclusion  of  line  portraits, 
particularly  by  A.  B.  Durand,  a  master  in  portraiture, 
but  also  by  R,  W.  Dodson  (his  Simon  Kenton  to  be  noted) 
and  T.  Kelly,  both  with  a  skilful  use  of  line,  and  J.  W. 
Paradise,  among  others.  The  younger  Maverick,  Peter, 
is  well  known  by  name,  but  not  a  little  of  his  portrait 
work  is  indifferent,  without  color  or  life.  However,  he 
could  do  as  good  a  job  as  his  Cervantes  in  line,  or  his  com- 
paratively rich  little  stipple  portrait  of  Oliver  Ellsworth 
after  Trumbull.  Kelly  did  much  "  shopwork,"  but  could 
rise  to  the  delicacy  of  his  /.  R.  Drake  after  Rodgers 
(1820)  and  the  force  of  his  A''.  Chapman,  M.  D.,  after 


92  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Neagle.  W.  Hoogland  was  perhaps  at  his  best  in  his 
W.  E.  Channing.  R.  W.  Dodson  did  indeed  produce  for 
"  Graham's  Magazine  "  a  group  of  female  contributors 
which  merited  the  sarcasm  of  Frances  Sargent  Osgood's 
"Lines  to  Mr.  Dodson,"  reprinted  in  Brooklyn  in  1885 
by  the  "  Elzevir  Press  "  (P.  L.  Ford!).  But  he  has  a 
number  of  good  and  quite  rich  plates  to  his  credit,  Richard 
Dale,  Gen.  Jonathan  Williams  and  Alex.  V.  Griswold. 
Like  Kelly  he  used  long  sweeping  curves  of  line  as  we 
see  them  in  Durand's  plates.  M.  J.  Danforth  is  an 
example  of  a  trifle  more  conventional  craftsmanship  and 
less  art,  although  before  his  Irving  after  Leslie  (the 
portrait  with  the  fur  collar,  so  often  engraved)  one  al- 
most forgets  that.  J.  W.  Steel  similarly  emulated  the 
fluency  of  lines  of  a  Durand.  In  his  Commodore  James 
Barron,  the  linear  curves  accent  the  rotund  and  genial 
robustness  of  the  subject;  the  delicate  John  Vaughan 
after  Sully  is  one  of  his  best.  Joseph  Andrews  was  best 
known  by  his  portraits, — S.  R.  Koehler  spoke  of  the 
"  tenderness  "  of  the  one  of  Amos  Lawrence  after  Hard- 
ing; his  fur-collar  Franklin,  after  Duplessis,  which  he 
engraved  in  France,  is  familiar,  and  /.  Q.  Adams,  after 
Healy,  is  a  good  example.  Koehler  read  the  biographical 
memoir  at  the  memorial  meeting  held  by  the  Boston  Art 
Club  in  honor  of  Andrews  in  1873  ("Report  of  Pro- 
ceedings," Boston,  1873).  Charles  Burt,  too,  executed 
a  number  of  portraits,  those  of  Washington,  A.  B. 
Durand  and  Carlyle  having  been  pronounced  "  admirable 
examples  of  a  combination  of  line  work  with  etching." 
A  striking  characteristic  of  the  nineteenth  century  work 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     93 

is  the  attainment  of  a  comparatively  high  general  level  of 
technical  proficiency,  of  mechanical  dexterity,  rising  in 
various  cases  to  a  remarkable  command  of  the  medium. 
It  is  perhaps  not  entirely  without  interest  that  a  num- 
ber of  our  engravers,  including  some  of  the  most  noted, 
were  either  self-educated,  like  James  Smillie,  or  at  least 
began  their  careers  without  instruction  or  tools,  even  if 
they  were  regularly  apprenticed  afterward.  William 
Rollinson,  a  "  chaser  of  fancy  buttons,"  did  a  small 
stipple  portrait  of  Washington  in  1791  without  previous 
knowledge.  Joseph  Ives  Pease  made  his  first  attempts 
with  an  old  awl  on  a  bit  of  thermometer  brass,  the  print- 
ing being  done  on  a  roll  press  invented  by  himself.  Al- 
exander Anderson,  who  engraved  first  in  copper,  and  did 
a  good  if  conventional  St.  John  after  Domenichino,  and 
a  quite  delicate  portrait  of  John  Carroll  of  Baltimore 
in  line  and  stipple,  learned  the  process,  as  a  boy,  from 
an  encyclopedia.  He  had  a  silversmith  roll  out  some 
copper  pennies,  and  experimented  with  a  "  graver  made 
of  the  back-spring  of  a  pocket-knife,"  printing  on  a  rude 
rolling  press  which  he  constructed;  later,  he  got  a  black- 
smith to  make  him  some  tools.  A.  B.  Durand's  first 
efforts  were  made  with  tools  of  his  own  manufacture,  on 
plates  hammered  out  from  copper  coins.  Gideon  Fair- 
man  also  began  with  tools  of  his  own  construction.  John 
Cheney  attempted  engraving  "  without  other  instruction 
than  that  offered  by  books  and  the  examination  of  such 
prints  as  came  under  his  notice,"  making  his  own  tools 
and  hammering  plates  from  the  pieces  of  an  old  copper 
boiler. 


94  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

A  potent  factor  in  the  technical  development  of  our 
J  line-engravers  on  copper,  in  those  days,  appears  in  the 
demand  for  bank-note  work.  From  Revolutionary  times 
on,  this  response  to  economic  needs  enlisted  the  services 
of  our  engravers.  Increased  production  brought  sys- 
tematization  of  work,  labor  saving  devices  and  contriv- 
ances intended  to  make  counterfeiting  more  difficult.  The 
traditional  inventive  genius  of  the  American  came  into 
play,  personified  in  Wm.  Rollinson,  John  James  Bar- 
ralet,  Jacob  Perkins,  Henry  Tanner,  J.  G.  Wellstood 
(founded  the  Columbia  Bank  Note  Co.  in  1871),  James 
Bogardus,  Cyrus  Durand  (not  an  engraver),  W.  L. 
Ormsby  ("  Description  of  the  present  System  of  Bank 
Note  Engraving  .  .  .  ;  added,  A  new  Method  ...  to 
prevent  Forgery,"  New  York,  1852).  They  fathered  in- 
genious inventions  or  improvements, — lathes,  ruling 
machines,  transfer  machines  tending  to  make  the  work 
more  mechanical.  Jacob  Perkins  not  only  in  18 10  de- 
vised means  for  substituting  steel  plates  for  copper,  thus 
prolonging  the  life  of  the  plate,  but  introduced  the  use 
of  die  plates.  By  this  new  method,  instead  of  engrav- 
ing the  whole  note  on  one  plate,  various  portions  of  the 
design  were  engraved  on  separate  plates.  From  these 
they  were  transferred  to  a  decarbonized  steel  cylinder 
by  means  of  the  transfer  press.  The  cylinder,  with  the 
design  thus  appearing  on  it  in  relief,  was  then  hardened 
again,  and  could  be  used  any  number  of  times  for  trans- 
ferring the  design  to  plates  to  be  used  for  various  bank- 
notes. In  1818,  Perkins  and  others  went  to  England  to 
compete  for  a  prize  offered  for  a  method  of  preventing 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     95 

counterfeiting.  Subsequently,  with  Charles  Heath,  the 
firm  of  Perkins  and  Heath  was  formed  to  exploit  the 
"  Patent  Hardened  Steel  Process." 

In  those  days  of  State  paper  money,  bank-note  estab- 
lishments arose  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and 
furnished  employment  to  practically  all  our  line-engravers 
during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  direct 
connection  of  certain  engravers  with  the  management  of 
such  companies  is  indicated  by  firm  names  such  as  Durand 
&  Co.;  Durand,  Perkins  &  Co.;  Tanner,  Vallance, 
Kearny  &  Co.;  Danforth,  Perkins  &  Co.;  Murray, 
Draper,  Fairman  &  Co.;  Casilear,  Durand,  Burton  and 
Edmunds;  Rawdon,  Wright,  Hatch  &  Smillie,  and  many 
more.  Absorption  of  firms  resulted  in  1858  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  American  Bank  Note  Co.,  and  there  were 
later  ones,  such  as  the  Homer-Lee  Bank-Note  Co.  Rob- 
ert Noxon  Toppan,  in  his  "  A  hundred  Years  of  Bank 
Note  Engraving  in  the  United  States"  (New  York, 
1790),  records  these  facts  and  more.  The  interested 
student  of  dates  will  find  the  years  when  these  various 
firms  were  founded  set  down  in  a  pamphlet  (1897)  by 
Joseph  Willcox  on  "The  Willcox  Paper  Mill,  1729- 
1866."  A  complete  record  is  in  preparation  for  the 
American  Bank  Note  Co. 

*'  By  the  middle  of  the  century,"  says  Stauffer,  "  Amer- 
ican bank-note  engraving  had  become  deservedly  famous 
throughout  the  world;  much  work  was  done  for  foreign 
governments,  and  in  this  class  of  work  our  engravers 
are  still  pre-eminent."  While  the  exigencies  of  this  work 
helped  to  develop  craftsmanship,  its  influence  on  the  whole 


96  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

promoted  smooth  dexterity  and  finesse  rather  than  rich- 
ness or  delicacy.  The  Declaration  of  Independence,  with  a 
pictorial  border,  engraved  in  1840,  in  a  space  of  ^  x  i^ 
inches,  issued  by  the  American  Bank  Note  Co.,  is  typical, 
in  a  measure.  The  use  of  mechanical  devices  such  as 
the  ruling  machine  (to  which,  the  late  J.  D.  Smillie 
once  told  me,  he  attached  a  clock-work  to  rule  certain 
portions  of  the  plate  during  the  night,  while  he  slept) , 
would  not  have  a  tendency  to  promote  fredoom  of  hand- 
ling, especially  on  the  part  of  less  vigorous  and  capable 
artistic  personalities. 

But  on  the  other  hand  one  must  recognize  the  fact 
that  the  public  was  at  least  served  with  good  drawing 
and  clean  engraving  in  the  vignettes  on  its  bank-notes. 
Among  the  designers  of  these  there  were  capable  artists. 
Durand,  for  instance,  ninety  of  whose  original  drawings 
for  such  vignettes  were  presented  to  the  New  York  Public 
Library  by  his  son  John.  Or  William  Croome.  And 
that  interesting  figure  among  our  illustrators,  F.  O.  C. 
Darley,  among  whose  bank-note  drawings  were  a  num- 
ber for  the  Japanese  government.  Likewise  Walter  Shir- 
law,  whose  decorative  breadth  was  used  to  good  effect. 
Moreover,  these  vignettes  were  engraved  with  a  certain 
richness  of  line,  expressed  not  only  with  delicate  incisive- 
ness,  but  also  with  boldness  and  a  certain  bigness, — as  in 
the  work  of  Alfred  Jones.  This  free  handling  of  the 
tool  was  often  in  refreshing  contrast  to  the  lathework 
or  other  machine-made  production  of  the  rest  of  the  bill. 
And  if  the  deadening  effect  of  bank-note  engraving  is 
deplored,  it  must  also  be  remembered  that  it  gave  em- 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     97 

ployment  to  the  best  of  our  engravers.  Durand  and 
Smillie  and  Jones  have  been  noted.  And  there  was 
SmilHe's  son,  James  D.,  and  J.  W.  Casilear,  whose 
Sibyl  after  Huntington  was  quite  Durand-like  in  its  beauty 
of  line.  And  William  Edgar  Marshall,  whose  large 
portraits  of  Washington,  Lincoln  (at  whose  features 
probably  every  later  nineteenth  century  engraver  of  any 
note  had  his  try).  Grant,  Longfellow,  Cooper,  usually 
from  his  own  paintings,  were  famous  in  their  time.  Burt, 
too,  and  Hinshelwood  and  others. 

Worthy  of  special  note  also  is  Stephen  A.  Schoff, 
A.N.A.,  who  could  engrave  in  the  regulation,  formal 
style,  as  he  showed  in  Marius  on  the  Ruins  of  Carthage 
(Apollo  Association,  1842)  after  Vanderlyn.  That,  ac- 
cording to  Stauffer,  he  considered  his  best  plate.  But 
in  a  moonlight  marine  after  M.  F.  H.  De  Haas,  a  portrait 
of  Emerson  after  S.  W.  Rowse,  and  particularly  in  Bath- 
ing Boys  after  W.  M.  Hunt,  he  varies  the  line  with  a 
freedom  and  spirit  akin  to  that  of  the  "  new  school "  of 
wood-engravers  in  this  country.  In  the  plate  after  Hunt, 
especially,  the  craftsman's  delight  in  clean-cut  sweeping 
curves,  or  in  the  masterly  employment  of  recognized 
conventions  to  express  various  textures,  did  not  find  ex- 
pression. The  line  was  broken  and  twisted  to  translate 
tones  and  color-values  and  even  brush-marks.  Yet  the 
hand  that  produced  this  plate,  almost  a  tour  de  force, 
could  also  rival  the  Turner  engravers  of  Rogers'  Italy  in 
the  delicate  minuteness  of  Bay  of  New  York  after  George 
Loring  Brown,  engraved  for  the  "  Ladies'  Repository." 

Line-engraving  had  its  day  as  a  medium  for  book- 


98  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

illustration.  But  the  results  arouse  rather  mixed  feelings. 
Such  plates  as  had  appeared  in  eighteenth  century  maga- 
zines, poor  as  they  were,  had  at  least  a  certain  rough 
energy,  and  for  us  they  have  the  antiquarian  interest  and 
the  glamor  of  sentiment  which  age  adds  to  such  produc- 
tions. And  some  of  the  earlier  nineteenth  century  plates 
by  the  younger  Maverick  and  others,  or  those  after 
Burton,  have  been  noted  earlier  in  this  chapter. 

Magazine  illustrations  had  shared  in  the  general  im- 
provement. The  "  New  York  Mirror,"  in  the  thirties  and 
forties,  published  a  number  of  creditable  views  in  the 
metropolis  and  elsewhere,  from  drawings  by  A.  J.  Davis, 
R.  W.  Weir  and  others,  of  interest  also  to  the  student 
of  life  in  those  days.  A  little  later,  "  Ladies'  Com- 
panion," "Ladies'  Repository"  (Cincinnati),  "Colum- 
bian Magazine,"  "  Graham's  Magazine,"  "  Evergreen," 
"  Ladies'  National  Magazine  "  are  among  the  names  met 
with  on  engravings.  But  the  illustrations  vary  in  merit. 
There  is  little  that  is  worse,  in  the  forties  and  fifties  of 
this  century  than  the  plates  in  certain  magazines  of  the 
"  Graham's  "  and  "  Godey's  Lady's  Book  "  type.  One 
may  instance,  in  "  Godey's,"  title  designs  by  W.  E. 
Tucker,  and  illustrations  engraved  by  the  Illmans  and 
V  others,  weak  and  inane.  Surely  W.  S.  Baker,  in  his  pio- 
neer undertaking,  "  American  Engravers  and  their 
J  Works  "  (1875),  strained  amiable  tolerance  when  he  as- 
serted that  Tucker's  "  plates  are  well  engraved,  and  in 
fine  taste,  particularly  the  border  and  flower  work  fur- 
nished for  magazines."  From  such  disheartening  work, 
even  the  insipid,  becurled  beauties  of  the  annuals,  the 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY     99 

**  keepsakes  "  and  "  gift  books  "  stand  out  favorably  by 
very  contrast.  There  is  a  fascination  about  these  old 
favorites,  "  elegant  ornaments  of  the  drawing-room 
table  "  (as  one  advertisement  puts  it),  in  their  bindings 
with  blind  and  gilt  tooling  of  a  style  quite  their  own. 
You  almost  forget  the  artistic  shortcomings  of  many  of 
their  illustrations  as  you  handle  them.  They  are  so  evi- 
dently characteristic  of  the  period,  a  period  that  offered 
such  incongruities  as  these  sentimental  offerings  and  an 
uncouth  vigor  which,  despite  all  caricaturing,  surely  must 
have  been,  if  ever  so  vaguely,  mirrored  by  Mrs.  Trollope 
and  Dickens.  It  was  characteristic  of  this  period  that  a 
young  German  lady,  coming  over  here  in  the  fifties,  had  to 
accustom  herself  to  the,  to  her  amusing,  spectacle  of  a 
gentleman  in  a  high  pot  hat,  wearing  a  flowered  vest,  in 
shirt-sleeves,  soberly  sweeping  the  sidewalk  before  his 
doorstep  or  going  marketing  with  a  basket  hanging  from 
his  arm.  And  as  for  that,  you  may  see  the  late  Gen. 
Thomas  F.  DeVoe,  in  exactly  the  same  garb,  with  smartly 
trimmed  side  whiskers,  deftly  cutting  off  a  prime  rib  for 
a  customer  at  his  stand  in  Washington  Market, — so  pic- 
tured in  a  steel  engraving  by  R.  Hinshelwood,  colored, 
which  forms  the  frontispiece  to  his  "  Market  Assistant " 
(1867). 

During  about  1830-60  "Affection's  Gift,"  "Ama- 
ranth," "  Baltimore  Book,"  "  Atlantic  Souvenir,"  "  The 
Gift,"  "The  Hyacinth,"  "Lady's  Album,"  "Moss 
Rose,"  "  Rose  of  Sharon,"  "  Opal,"  "  Pearl,"  "  Token," 
"  Lady's  Cabinet  Album,"  and  numerous  other  annuals 
published,  beside  much  poor  stuff,  some  most  pleasing 


lOO  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

examples  of  pure  line  work.  These  came  from  the 
gravers  of  Durand,  Cheney,  Andrews,  Smillie,  or  such 
lesser  lights  as  Danforth,  Prud'homme,  Balch,  J.  B. 
Neagle,  Edward  Gallaudet,  G.  B.  Ellis,  after  paintings 
or  drawings  by  Allston,  Cole,  Leslie,  Doughty,  G.  L. 
Brown,  Chapman, — all  Americans.  Repeatedly  does 
Stauffer  note  that  some  given  engraver's  best  work  is  to 
be  found  in  these  annuals.  There  were  many  inanely 
simpering,  doll-like  damsels  in  these  publications,  but 
from  among  them  John  Cheney's  female  heads  (and  male 
portraits,  too,  for  the  matter  of  that)  speak  to  us  of  a 
refined  taste.  Dignity  there  is  in  his  work,  restraint,  gen- 
tility, some  conventionality,  but  also  delicacy,  and  in 
Guardian  Angels,  after  Reynolds,  for  instance,  even  a  cer- 
tain richness.  "  The  best  engraver  of  the  female  head 
in  America,"  Baker  called  him.  Ednah  D.  Cheney  issued 
a  *'  Life  "  of  him  in  1889,  and  one  of  his  brother  Seth 
Wells  in  188 1.  S.  R.  Koehler  brought  out  a  "  Catalogue 
of  the  engraved  and  lithographic  Work  "  of  the  brothers 
in  1 89 1,  and  the  Boston  Museum  held  an  exhibition  of 
their  work  two  years  later. 

The  vogue  of  the  gift  book  extended  to  descriptions 
of  locality,  such  as  W.  C.  Richards'  "  Georgia  illustrated 
in  a  Series  of  Views  engraved  on  Steel  by  Rawdon, 
Wright,  Hatch  &  Smillie,  from  Sketches  made  expressly 
for  this  work  by  T.  A.  Richards  "  (1842).  It  produced 
even  a  quarto  apiece,  in  1847,  devoted  to  Mount  Auburn 
and  Greenwood  cemeteries,  respectively.  Yet  these  two 
last-named  include  good  landscapes,  all  drawn  by  James 
Smillie  and  in  part  engraved  by  him,  "  in  highly  finished 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY    loi 

line  engraving."  They,  like  all  of  Smillie's  worlc,  are 
of  a  certain  distinction;  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the  pro- 
fession in  the  specialty  of  landscape.  "After  1861," 
wrote  his  son  James  D.  to  me  in  1888,  "  he  gave  all  his 
time  to  engraving  bank-note  vignettes,  excepting  1864, 
when  he  engraved  his  magnum  opus  '  The  Rocky  Moun- 
tains '  after  A.  Bierstadt." 

Less  distinguished,  often  very  much  less,  are  the  numer- 
ous plates  published  in  books  of  travel  in  the  forties. 
These  plates  are  often  found  separated  from  the  volumes 
to  which  they  belong,  to  swell  the  collections  of  those 
interested  in  views  of  special  localities,  or  to  grace  the 
productions  of  the  extra-illustrator.  The  name  of  Wil- 
liam Henry  Bartlett,  the  English  illustrator,  is  a  familiar 
one  in  this  field.  His  drawings,  reproduced  in  plates  by 
English  engravers,  were  copied  by  Americans,  in  some 
cases  more  than  once. 

Interesting,  as  home  productions,  are  the  illustrations 
of  T.  H.  Matteson  (the  painter  of  The  First  Prayer  in 
Congress,  engraved  by  H.  S.  Sadd)  engraved  by  MIIo 
Osborne  and  others.  James  Hamilton,  the  Philadelphia 
marine  painter,  also  did  some  book  designs.  Matteson 
had  a  certain  facility  which  to  a  greater  degree  character- 
ized Darley.  The  latter's  vignette  illustrations  for 
Cooper  and  Dickens  were  cleanly  and  understandingly 
reproduced  by  J.  D.  Smillie,  Hinshelwood,  Hollyer,  A.  V. 
Baulch,  Schoff,  C.  Rost  and  others.  They  remain  the 
most  pleasing  and  satisfactory  examples  of  the  employ- 
ment of  steel-engraving  for  book-illustration. 

About   i860  there  set  in  the  beginning  of  the  period 


I02  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

of  rank  commercialism.  Craftsmen  such  as  Henry 
Bryan  Hall,  J.  C.  Buttre,  H.  Wright  Smith,  nimble 
manipulators  of  the  tools  of  their  art,  and  others  less 
skilful,  fairly  flooded  the  land  with  portraits  of  the  great 
and  the  less  great,  demand  for  likenesses  of  Civil  War 
heroes  increasing  the  number.  Line  plates  such  as  those 
in  Duyckinck's  "  National  Portrait  Gallery  of  Eminent 
Americans"  (1862),  executed  after  full-length  paintings 
by  Alonzo  Chappel,  make  the  stipple  work  in  the  Herring 
and  Longacre  "  Portrait  Gallery "  appear  even  richer 
by  contrast.  At  best,  there  is  nothing  in  the  general  run 
of  this  work  of  1860-80  beyond  a  superficial  technical 
facility.  In  the  case  of  Hall,  extensive  use  of  etching 
gave  an  appearance  of  freedom  to  his  numerous  portraits 
of  men  prominent  in  the  American  Revolution,  most  of 
them  based  on  originals  by  Trumbull  and  others.  A 
number  of  these  were  private  plates,  a  selection  of  which, 
collected  into  a  volume  by  Dr.  T.  A.  Emmet,  show  the 
plates  in  various  states.  There  are  several  of  Washing- 
ton, for  example,  in  trial  proofs  not  listed  in  C.  H.  Hart's 
monumental  catalogue  (Nos.  120,  268,  704).  The  vol- 
ume is  in  the  New  York  Public  Library,  where  are  also 
a  number  of  impressions  of  other  plates  by  Hall,  cor- 
rected in  wash,  so-called  "  touched  "  proofs. 

But  there  were  others  who  had  not  the  facility  of  these 
men,  others  whose  work,  thin,  colorless,  anemic,  and  in 
its  poorest  form  of  an  absolutely  machine-made  character, 
graces  a  certain  type  of  town  or  county  history  or  col- 
lective biography,  a  cheap  decoy  for  the  local  magnate 
of  plethoric  pocketbook  or  the  wealthy  relative  to  launch 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY    103 

the  genealogy.  As  a  study  of  the  wide  difference  even 
in  mere  craftsmanship,  the  proficiency  in  handling  the 
graver  and  controlling  the  sweeps  of  its  strokes,  one  has 
but  to  compare  the  best  work  of  this  period  with  the 
ordinary  run  of  portraits  by  Durand  or  with  the  bold 
curves  of  the  head  of  Cadwalader  D.  Colden,  after 
Waldo  and  Jewett,  by  Peter  Maverick  and  Durand  &  Co. 

Commercialism  is  indicated  in  a  measure  also  by  the  / 
publishing  activity  of  certain  engravers, — ^J.  C.  Buttre 
(catalogue  of  the  J.  C.  Buttre  Co.,  issued  as  late  as  1894) 
and  others.  Still,  conditions  probably  made  such  dual  ac- 
tivity necessary  in  earlier  days;  at  all  events,  Hurd,  James 
Claypoole,  Jr.,  Joseph  Cone,  W.  Rollinson  not  only  en- 
graved prints  but  sold  them. 

Line-engravings    by    Americans — after    paintings    by  / 
Americans — figured   in   the   lists   of   dealers    (Klackner, 
Knoedler  et  al.)  certainly  as  late  as  1888  :  Hinshelwood, 
J.   A.  J.  Wilcox,   H.  E.   Beckwith,   F.   Girsch   and  C. 
Schlecht  being  among  the  engravers  so  employed. 

Line-engraving  is  anything  but  a  dead  art  to-day.  We 
handle  Its  products  daily  in  our  paper  money  and  the 
postage  stamp;  it  may  be  seen  in  the  internal  revenue 
stamp  and  the  government  bond.  Bank-note  work,  all 
of  this,  and  still  the  most  usual  outlet  for  work  in  this 
field.  Outside  of  that,  line-engraving  appears  on  state 
occasions — say  in  the  form  of  a  vignette  on  a  menu  of  a 
dinner  to  some  notability  usually  signed  by  the  firm  name 
of  an  engraving  company  or  a  silverware  house  or  fash- 
ionable stationer.  The  result  in  such  cases  Is  not  hard 
to  imagine.     Commercial  production,  clean,  smooth,  thin 


104  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

work,  of  an  inconspicuous  mediocrity.  Occasionally  there 
is  an  opportunity  for  the  engraver  of  artistic  ambition, 
as  exemplified,  for  instance,  in  the  diploma  of  the  Chicago 
World's  Fair  of  1893,  by  Charles  Schlecht  from  a  design 
by  Will  H.  Low. 

A  use  to  which  line-engraving  is  still  put  in  our  day, 
and  with  signal  success,  is  the  reproduction  of  designs 
for  book-plates.  The  ex  libris  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century,  by  Maverick,  Anderson  et  al.,  and  the  still  earlier 
ones  by  the  eighteenth  century  men,  have  been  referred 
to.  Later  came  the  revived  use  of  the  art  of  copper  en- 
graving for  this  purpose,  by  E.  D.  French,  J.  Winfred 
Spenceley,  S.  L.  Smith,  W.  F.  Hopson  and  others,  dealt 
with  more  in  detail  in  the  chapter  on  book-plates.  These 
men  have  also  been  employed  occasionally,  as  were  their 
predecessors  in  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  early  nine- 
teenth, to  execute  elaborate  cards  of  invitation,  diplomas, 
certificates  and  the  like,  such  as  those  done  for  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  or  the  New  York  Historical  So- 
ciety. It  is  a  satisfaction  that  we  possess  these  examples 
of  an  artistic  solution  of  problems  usually  left  to  pure 
commercialism  to  solve.  S.  L.  Smith's  re-engravings  of 
plates  by  Revere  and  Doolittle  have  been  referred  to. 
He  and  the  other  book-plate  artists  here  mentioned,  as 
well  as  the  former  wood-engravers  F.  S.  King  and  W.  M. 
Aikman,  were  engaged  by  the  Society  of  Iconophiles  of 
New  York  and  the  Iconographic  Society  of  Boston  to 
copy  old  engravings  or  photographs  of  architectural  land- 
marks in  those  cities,  which  task  they  accomplished 
in  plates  of  the  dignity  and  sonority  peculiar  to  the  line- 


LINE  AND  STIPPLE:  19TH  CENTURY    105 

engraving  on  copper.  The  Bibliophile  Society  of  Boston 
has  similarly  engaged  French,  Hopson  and  the  etcher 
W.  H.  H.  Bicknell  to  engrave  title-pages  and  illustrations 
for  the  books  issued  by  it.  And  W.  L.  Andrews  had  en- 
gravings executed  by  French  and  Smith  for  several  of  his 
"  limited  edition  "  books.  Smith  designed  and  engraved, 
for  that  author's  "  Paul  Revere,"  head  and  tail  pieces  in 
the  style  of  the  late  eighteenth  century  French  vignettists. 

Often,  these  modern  line-engravers  of  book-plates  work 
after  their  own  designs.  That  brings  us  to  a  considera- 
tion of  line-engraving  as  a  painter  art,  as  Karl  Stauffer- 
Bern  practised  it  in  Europe,  or  Hubert  Herkomer.  With 
us  there  is  even  less  to  say  about  this  than  abroad.  I 
can  recall  but  two  instances.  J.  Alden  Weir  once  tried 
the  graver  in  producing  a  nude  figure,  "  Arcturus,"  which 
added  an  Interesting  document  to  the  record  of  that  mas- 
terful and  sensitive  experimenter.  And  a  wood-engraver, 
Oscar  Grosch,  engraved  several  landscapes  with  the  burin, 
from  nature,  before  he  turned  to  the  more  easily  manipu- 
lated etching  needle.  It  Is,  of  course,  the  greater  difficulty 
in  handling  the  graver  that  keeps  artists  from  adopting 
it  as  a  means  of  original  expression  as  they  do  the  needle 
or  the  lithographic  crayon. 

As  a  means  of  direct  response  to  a  need  of  repro- 
duction of  famous  works  of  art,  line-engraving  is  doomed 
here,  as  elsewhere,  even  more  than  wood-engraving.  In 
France,  some  years  ago,  a  society  was  founded  for  the 
express  purpose  of  keeping  alive  the  old  art.  It  issued  one 
hundred  plates  by  the  best  engravers  of  the  land,  which 
stand  as  an  interesting  proof  of  the  possibilities  of  modern 


io6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

methods  and  point  of  view  with  an  art  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  other  days.  And  that  is  all.  Here,  bank-note 
work  is  keeping  the  practice  of  the  art  alive  in  a  restricted 
field  and  is  training  engravers.  But  the  glory  of  the 
large  plate  as  a  translation  of  painted  masterpieces  has 
departed  and  the  framing  print,  once  the  pride  of  the 
best  room,  has  departed  likewise.  The  plates  produced 
by  Woollett  and  Sharp  in  England;  Morghen,  Longhi, 
Toschi,  in  Italy;  Muller,  Mandel,  in  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria ;  Henriquel  Dupont,  in  France ;  Smillie,  Burt,  Durand, 
Jones,  in  the  United  States,  may  be  studied  as  examples 
of  reproductive  art  in  print  rooms  and  private  collections. 
The  camera  has  taken  their  place  in  the  work  of  intro- 
ducing the  art  masterpieces  of  the  ages  to  a  wider  public 
through  translations  into  black-and-white. 


CHAPTER  V 

MEZZOTINT  (THE  ART  OF  ROCKER 
AND  SCRAPER) 

During  the  period  of  the  American  Revolution  and 
the  succeeding  years  there  was  witnessed  in  England  a  t^ 
remarkable  development  of  the  art  of  mezzotint.  This 
method  of  engraving,  while  not  entirely  as  supple,  as 
varied  in  possibilities,  as  the  etching  or  the  lithograph, 
has  qualities  peculiarly  its  own:  a  rich  depth  of  velvety  ^ 
soft  black  of  a  texture  different  from  anything  which  even 
the  stone  can  yield,  a  resounding  gamut  of  mellow  lights 
and  soft  transitions  and  unctuous,  translucent  shadows. 
It  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  reproduction  of  the  air  of 
distinction  and  stately  grace  that  marked  both  the  method 
and  the  subjects  of  the  canvases  in  which  the  great  por-  ^ 
trait  painters  of  the  day — Reynolds,  Gainsborough, 
Hoppner,  Romney — perpetuated  the  noble  lords  and 
ladies  of  their  land  and  time.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
insist  on  the  fact  that  in  the  American  colonies,  and  sub- 
sequently in  the  young  republic,  manner,  inclination,  time, 
money,  talent  and  whatever  other  circumstances  were  nec- 
essary to  bring  about  such  a  condition  were  all  missing 
to  a  great  extent.  Still,  as  early  as  1727,  Peter  Pelham, — 
"  the  first  man,"  says  Stauffer,  "  who  produced  a  really 
meritorious  portrait  plate  in  this  country,"  meaning,  of 

course,  not  only  in  mezzotint,  but  in  engraving  of  any 

107 


io8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

kind, — painted  and  mezzotinted  his  portrait  of  Cotton 
Mather.  Here,  therefore,  as  in  wood-engraving,  the  first 
recorded  American  product  is  a  portrait  of  a  Mather. 
This  fact  has  given  peculiar  prominence  to  this  plate,  a 
very  creditable  performance,  for  the  rest.  But  it  is  only 
one  of  fourteen  which  Pelham  executed  after  he  came 
to  this  country  (the  one  of  Benjamin  Colman,  1735,  is 
reproduced  by  Stauffer)  and  after  he  had  placed  twenty 
to  his  credit  in  England.  W.  H.  Whitmore  ("Notes 
concerning  Pelham,"  1867),  D.  R.  Slade  and  S.  A.  Green 
have  written  of  Pelham.  Another  Mather — Increase — 
was  pictured  in  a  small  mezzotint,  T.  Johnson  fecit;  prob- 
ably Thomas  Johnston,  think  Whitmore  and  Green,  but 
Stauffer  believes  that  this  was  the  London  engraver, 
Thomas  Johnson. 

Though  encouragement  could  not,   in  the  nature  of 
things,  be  extensive  in  those  days,  there  were  still  other 
artists  in  the  colonies  who  made  at  least  some  attempts 
with  "  rocker  "  and  "  scraper."  William  Burgis,  the  pub- ( 
lisher  of  maps  and  prints,  did  a  coarsely  executed  view  of 
the  light-house  at  the  entrance  to  Boston  Harbor,  the 
only  plate  signed  by  him  seen  by  Stauffer.     Pelham's  step-    , 
son,  John  Singleton  Copley,  who  apparently  had  instruc-   * 
tion  from  his  stepfather  in  painting  and  engraving,  has 
a  small  portrait  of  Rev.  William  Wellsteed  of  Boston 
(about  1753)  to  his  credit.     His  painting  of  Nathaniel 
Hurd  was   scraped,   in  what   Dunlap   thought   the   first 
mezzotint  done  in  America,  probably  by  Richard  Jennys, 
who  was  working  here  about  the  beginning  of  the  Revo- 
lution.    Another  portrait  by  Jennys  is  that  of  Rev.  Jon--! 


Cotton  Mather 
Mezzotint  by  Peter  Pelham 


MEZZOTINT  109 

athan  Mayhew  (about  1774),  "  printed  and  sold  by  Nat. 
Hurd."  At  about  the  same  time  Samuel  Okey,  an  Eng- 
lishman, was  engraving  and  publishing  mezzotints  in  New- 
port, R.  I.  His  portraits  included  those  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Hiscox  (1773),  reproduced  by  Stauffer;  Rev.  James 
Honyman  (1774)  and  Samuel  Adams  after  J.  Mitchell 
(1775),  which  last  was  copied  in  our  day  by  J.  Percy 
Sabin.  Okey's  The  Burgomaster,  after  Halls  [sic!]  is 
the  earliest  attempt  in  the  colonies  to  reproduce  in  mezzo- 
tint a  painting  by  an  old  master.  Benjamin  Blyth  (born 
1740)  was  represented  in  the  exhibition  of  early  Amer- 
ican engravings  at  the  Boston  Museum  in  1904  by  an 
allegorical  composition,  showing  a  tree,  supporting  an 
escutcheon  with  thirteen  stars,  growing  out  of  the  south- 
ern coast  (at  Portsmouth)  of  a  map  of  England.  The 
title  is  Sacred  to  Liberty  and  the  designer  is  Cole.  And 
some  prominent  actors  in  the  conflict  thus  symbolically 
pictured  were  portrayed  by  Charles  Willson  Peale.  That 
universal  genius,  interested  in  many  things,  was  attracted 
also  by  mezzotint  and  included  it  among  the  arts  which 
he  studied  in  London.  His  plates  are  described  by 
Stauffer  as  "  good  but  few  and  scarce " ;  they  include 
portraits  of  Washington,  Franklin  and  Lafayette,  all 
from  his  own  designs.  Of  his  Washington  portraits,  the 
earliest  (1778)  is  reproduced  in  Hart's  catalogue  of 
Washington  portraits;  the  1780  one — dignified  and  of  a 
certain  richness — in  W.  L.  Andrews's  book  on  American 
Revolutionary  portraiture;  and  the  bust  portrait  done 
1787  was  copied  in  mezzotint  in  the  next  century  by  John 
Sartain. 


y 


no  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

J  John  Greenwood,  though  born  in  Boston  (1727), 
learned  mezzotint  in  Holland  and  died  in  England 
(1792);  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  practised  the 
art  in  the  land  of  his  birth.  Two  portraits  by  him,  pub- 
lished abroad,  appeared  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Boston 
Museum's  exhibition  of  early  American  engravings. 

An  interesting  figure  in  this  list,  which,  on  account  of 
the  sporadic  nature  of  the  efforts  recorded,  perforce 
partakes  of  the  nature  of  an  annotated  catalogue,  is  Ed- J 
ward  Savage,  painter  and  stipple  engraver.  Noteworthy 
are  the  "  soft  and  beautiful  "  reproduction  of  his  own 
portrait  of  Washington,  seated,  and  the  portrait  of  Frank- 
lin, after  Martin  (London;  2d  state:  Boston),  the  latter 
good  though  perhaps  lacking  in  subtlety  and  suavity. 
He  scraped  also  portraits  of  Benjamin  Rush  (1800),  ^^ 
Wayne,  David  Rittenhouse  and  Jefferson  (1800),  all 
after  his  own  paintings.  Two  other  mezzotints  by  him 
are  of  particular  interest.  The  one,  Muscipula  after 
Reynolds,  as  an  echo  of  British  achievement  in  this  rich 
medium.  The  other.  Eruption  of  Mount  Etna  in  1787 
(published  1799),  as  an  example  of  the  not  common 
use  of  the  process  in  landscape  work,  and  as  an  early 
specimen  of  American  color  printing.  Savage's  Wash- 
ington portraits  were  reproduced  in  mezzotint,  the  bust 
once,  the  three-quarter  length  three  times — with  empha- 
sis on  any  stiffness  in  the  originals — in  1799-1800,  by 
William  Hamlin  (1772-1869)  of  Providence.  Hamlin  ^ 
signed  also  a  portrait  of  Washington  from  Howdan's 
bust,  Richmond,  V a., — Houdon  being  meant,  of  course, 
— Wm.  Hamlin  sc.  at  gi  years  of  age.     A  portrait  of 


MEZZOTINT  III 

Franklin  by  him  was  catalogued  at  the  Holden  sale 
(No.  148 1 )  as  the  "  only  copy  known."  He  put  mezzo- 
tint to  some  unusual  purposes,  in  The  Burning  of  the 
Frigate  Philadelphia,  in  Tripoli  Harbor,  Feb.  1804,  and 
in  a  reversible  picture,  illustrating  the  pleasure  of  Court- 
ship and  the  disillusionment  of  Matrimony.  The  last 
print  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  an  American  contribu- 
tion to  the  considerable  output  of  mezzotinted  humor  in 
the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  England. 
Hamlin  was  a  manufacturer  of  nautical  instruments,  of 
whom  Stauffer  says:  "  As  an  engraver  Mr.  Hamlin  made 
his  own  tools  and  worked  practically  without  instruction." 
The  result  was  bad  enough.  His  plates  show  a  some- 
what weak  mixture  of  mezzotint  and  stipple,  frequently 
worked  over  with  the  roulette.  However,  he  probably 
made  the  best  of  very  limited  opportunities. 

These  old  engravers  turned,  with  Yankee  ease  of  adap- 
tation, from  one  process  to  the  other,  working  in  etch- 
ing, line-engraving,  stipple,  aquatint  and  mezzotint. 
They  may  have  been  actuated  partly  by  an  awakening 
interest  in  the  media  and  partly  by  the  desire  to  find 
new  ways  of  arousing  their  public  to  a  more  liberal 
bestowal  of  the  "  honest  penny  "  which  they  were  trying 
to  earn.  "?: 

A  number  of  the  actors  in  the  Revolution  were  pictured  y 
by  mezzotinters  in  England.  Thomas  Hart  and  others 
issued  a  number  of  anonymous  plates,  portraits  of  Put- 
nam, Charles  Lee,  John  Sullivan,  David  Wooster,  Han- 
cock, Washington  of  course,  etc.  And  Washington  was 
notably  portrayed  also  by  Valentine  Green.     There  are 


112  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

several  mezzotint  portraits  of  John  Paul  Jones,  two  of 
them  (representing  him  in  three-quarter  length,  with  a 
glass  under  his  arm)  so  nearly  alike  that  they  have  been 
taken  for  different  states  of  the  same  engraving.  Por- 
traits of  British  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  by 
British  mezzotinters,  also  have  interest  for  collectors  of 
Americana,  and  in  some  cases  stand  out  by  conspicuous 
artistic  merits,  for  example  J.  R.  Smith's  portrait  of 
Col.  Tarleton,  after  Reynolds.  Simon's  four  Indian 
kings,  much  earlier  in  date,  likewise  come  to  mind  as 
interesting  foreign  contributions  to  the  iconography  of 
Colonial  history. 

Entering  the  nineteenth  century,  one  finds  still  occa- 
sional native  efforts  in  this  field  to  be  noted,  as  a  matter 
of  record.  These  cases  represent  experiments  or  side- 
steppings  rather  than  continued  practice.  For  example, 
Bass  Otis  tried  his  hand  at  various  processes,  which  has 
led  Stauffer  to  suggest  that  the  scraped  reproductions  of 
his  portraits  of  William  White  and  Rev.  Joseph  Eastburn, 
though  unsigned,  "  may  be  experiments  by  Otis  himself." 
Another  painter,  John  Wesley  Jarvis,  who  engraved 
under  Savage,  produced  portraits  of  David  Rittenhouse 
and  John  H.  Livingston,  both  published  by  himself. 
John  Rubens  Smith,  an  industrious  teacher  of  drawing, 
who  showed  a  certain  ability  in  various  branches  of 
graphic  art,  is  credited  with  some  mezzotint  work,  such 
as  the  portraits  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Lincoln  (1811)  from 
a  picture  by  Coll.  H.  Sargent  and  James  Patterson  after 
Otis  (1837),  or  the  one  of  Rev.  Thomas  Brainerd  pub- 
lished by  Smith  as  late  as  1840.     And  there  was  another 


MEZZOTINT  113 

universal  genius,  John  Roberts  (i 768-1 803),  erratic  and  ^ 
unable  to  turn  his  inventiveness  to  practical  advantage. 
So  says  Dunlap,  who  states  that  he  devised  "  a  new 
mode  of  stippling,  produced  by  instruments  executed  by 
himself "  and  "  made  a  printing-press  for  proving  his 
work."  By  him,  says  Stauffer,  "  a  small  mezzotint  por- 
trait of  Washington  exists  ( 1799)  which  is  extremely  rich 
in  eifect  and  shows  fine  execution."  Then  there  was  Al- 
exander Lawson,  the  Scotch  line-engraver,  who  tried  mez- 
zotint as  he  tried  etching.  George  Graham  similarly 
worked  in  mezzotint  as  well  as  in  stipple,  but  with  more 
application  and  success,  apparently.  Certainly,  his  por- 
trait of  John  Mason  (1804),  after  Archibald  Robertson, 
which  may  be  seen  in  reproduction  in  Stauffer's  book, 
shows  delicacy  in  handling  and  modeling,  and  feeling  for 
tone  and  color.  And  A.  B.  Durand,  the  famous  line- 
engraver,  attempted  mezzotint  at  least  once,  in  a  por- 
trait of  his  friend  Sylvester  Graham  (of  bran  bread 
fame),  but  did  not  finish  the  plate,  as  both  C.  H.  Hart 
and  Samuel  Isham  inform  us. 

But  the  purposeful  and  extensive  exploitation  of  mez- 
zotint came  in  the  days  of  John  Sartain.  This  artist,  ^ 
who  told  the  story  of  his  life  in  his  interesting  "  Remi- 
niscences of  a  Very  Old  Man"  (New  York,  1899), 
worked  in  England  as  a  stipple  and  line  engraver  before 
he  came  to  this  country  in  1830.  He  has  spoken  of 
conditions  when  he  began  work  here,  of  the  "  inferior 
quality  of  plate  printing;  Frankfort  black  was  an  article 
unknown."  The  first  mezzotint  executed  by  him  here 
was  Patriotism  and  Age  after  Neagle.     Of  strongly  artis- 


114  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

tic  temperament,  versatile  and  adaptative,  and  at  the  same 
time  evidently  possessed  of  decided  business  instincts,  he 
was  quick  to  see  the  advantages  of  mezzotint  as  an  ex- 
peditious method  for  magazine  illustration  in  that  period 
(approximately  i835-'55).  Portraiture  was  called  for, 
mostly,  and  plates  to  grace  the  "  keepsakes "  and  like 
annuals.  There  were  "Christmas  Blossoms"  (1847), 
"  The  Irving  Offering  "  (1851),  "  Dew  Drop  "  (1853), 
"Affection's  Gift"  (1854)  and  what  not  besides,  which 
had  such  adornments  in  mezzotint, — becurled  females  of 
most  "  ladylike  "  aspect  and  reproductions  of  story-telling 
pictures  of  a  harmless  and  sometimes  inane  order.  Tlie 
portraits  were,  on  the  whole,  the  best  part  of  this  work 
on  a  smaller  scale,  and  they  were  turned  out  by  Sartain 
with  a  smooth  facility,  and  a  quick  if  not  always  pro- 
found seizure  of  general  effect  and  character.  These 
qualities  stamp  even  his  least  important  work  with  a 
certain  quality  of  its  own,  differentiating  it  from  that  of 
his  confreres.  It  probably  amounts  to  this,  in  the  last 
analysis,  that  a  certain  individual  note  predominates  in 
his  plate,  more  than  in  theirs,  a  swing  and  freedom  and 
lightness  of  touch  which  much  overcame  and  softened  the 
ill  effects  of  rapid,  commercial  creation.  And  it  is  no 
doubt  this  fact  that  has  caused  more  than  one  collector 
to  gather  a  number  of  his  prints  in  an  interesting  review 
of  this  active  artist's  productiveness. 

The  possibilities  of  mezzotint  as  a  medium  for  the    i 
illustration  of  magazines  and  books  led  Sartain  into  active 
alliance    with    publishing    interests.     "  Graham's    Maga- 
zine "  was  begun  in  1841 ;  before  that,  as  Sartain  himself 


MEZZOTINT  115 

wrote,  magazines,  when  illustrated  at  all,  used  worn-out 
plates,  but  "  Graham's  "  had  a  new  plate  engraved  for 
each  number.  The  success  of  the  undertaking  was  im- 
mense, a  circulation  of  40,000  was  reached,  and  Sartain  ^ 
said  that  he  had  to  engrave  "  four  steel  plates  of  each 
subject  in  order  to  keep  pace  in  the  printing  of  them 
with  the  increased  demand."  He  issued  and  edited  the 
"  Foreign  Semi-Monthly  "  and  in  1847  owned  and  edited 
a  quarto  volume:  "The  American  Gallery  of  Art."  He 
did  an  enormous  amount  of  work  beside  that  which  he 
furnished  regularly  to  his  own  periodicals;  so,  in  one 
summer,  forty-five  plates  for  annuals.  Even  such  spurts 
of  speed  were  accomplished  as  the  scraping  of  the  portrait 
of  Espartero,  on  a  "  rush  order,"  in  one  night.  Un- 
fortunately, comparatively  large  editions  meant  rapidly 
wearing  plates,  and  in  such  cases  the  later  impressions 
are  frequently  ghostly  shadows,  perhaps  touched  up  by 
roulette  and  graver  into  a  fictitious  semblance  of  pristine 
freshness.  Sartain  used  roulette  and  line  particularly  in 
his  smaller  portraits;  a  full-length  of  William  Maginn 
(1842)  is  quite  in  roulette.  He  did  several  portraits  after 
Sully,  the  one  of  Charles  Chauncey  being  reproduced  by 
Stauffer,  and  the  Horace  Binney  being  possibly  his  best 
portrait  plate.  "  Now  I  am  to  be  sullied  for  sartain," 
is  the  remark  attributed  to  some  one  whose  portrait  by 
Sully  was  to  be  "  scraped  "  by  Sartain. 

In  such  a  portrait  as  the  large  ones  of  Robert  Gilmor 
and  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  both  after  Lawrence,  or  in 
a  rich  male  bust  portrait  after  Henry  Inman,  Sartain 
showed  what  he  could  really  do  when  opportunity  offered. 


ii6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

In  them  he  reflected  somewhat  the  achievements  of 
Charles  Turner  and  Samuel  Cousins,  the  epigones  of  the 
great  eighteenth  century  mezzotinters  in  England,  who 
proved  once  again  that  extreme  development  of  technical 
ability  in  an  art  is  quite  apt  to  precede  its  decay. 

This  decadence  was  shown  here,  as  in  England,  in  the 
commercialization  of  technique  into  the  so-called  "  mixed 
j  method,"  in  which  scraper,  burin,  roulette,  ruling  machine 
J  I  and  stippling  were  combined  in  a  monotonous  hodge- 
1  podge  to  produce  superficial  results  easily  and  cheaply. 
^  As  to  the  predominance  of  weak  sentimentality  and  fic- 
titious grace  in  the  *'  annual  "  plates,  that  was  a  general 
characteristic  of  this  period  of  Victorian  art,  intensified 
somewhat,  perhaps,  by  the  fact  that  the  softer  effects  of 
mezzotint  were  more  easily  perverted  into  an  invertebrate 
mushiness  than  the  insistent  graver  work  of  the  line- 
engraving. 

Rarely  were  large  portraits  done  here  which  recalled 
in  a  measure  the  thoroughness  and  richness  of  the  earlier 
British  work,  or  even  the  ease  of  that  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Sartain's  have  been  noted.  There  is  one  of 
Sir  Charles  T.  Metcalfe,  after  A.  Bradish  (Montreal, 
1844),  by  William  Warner,  whose  work  Stauffer  calls 
*'  admirable."  It  is  executed  in  an  honest,  vigorous  and 
broad  manner,  which  may  be  studied  in  New  York  in 
an  interesting  series  of  working  proofs.  Warner's  John 
Swift,  after  Sully,  is  rich  in  effect;  the  unctuous  grace  of 
this  painter  seems  to  have  spurred  engravers  to  emulation. 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  too,  that  William  Page,  the 
painter,  was  mezzotinting  as  early  as  1834.     A  portrait 


Six.  Thomas  Lawrence 
After  a  painting  liy  himself.      Mezzotint  by  John  Sartain 


MEZZOTINT  117 

of  Rev.  James  Milnor,  with  decided  feeling  for  tones  and 
color  and  chiaroscuro,  and  one  of  Edwin  Forrest,  are 
by  him. 

For  a  short  period  the  mezzotint  shared  with  the  line-  ^ 
engraving  the  field  of  the  large  framing  print.  Here, 
also,  Sartain's  name  is  prominent.  He  signed,  among 
others.  King  Solomon  and  the  Iron  Worker  and  Men  of 
Progress:  American  Inventors  (1862),  both  after  Chris- 
tian Schussele,  Leutze's  John  Knox  and  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  (Art  Union  of  Philadelphia),  Rothermel's  Battle 
of  Gettysburg,  West's  Christ  rejected,  and  John  Blake 
White's  Gen.  Marion  .  .  .  inviting  a  British  Officer  to 
Dinner  (Apollo  Association,  1840).  T.  Doney  engraved 
The  Jolly  Flat  Boat  Men  after  G.  C.  Bingham  (Ameri- 
can Art  Union,  1845);  ^-  H-  Ritchie  Mercy's  Dream. 
after  Huntington,  and  Whitechurch  Clay  addressing  the 
Senate  after  P.,F.  Rothermel. 

Among  Sartain's  contemporaries  who  scraped  portraits 
for  the  "  American  Whig  Review  "  and  other  publica- 
tions in  the  forties,  Thomas  Doney  and  P.  M.  Whelpley 
were  prominent.  They  were  good  craftsmen,  both  "  cap- 
ital engravers,"  as  Stauffer  says,  with  a  somewhat  heavier 
touch  than  Sartain's,  a  tendency  to  work  more  on  the 
plate  and  to  produce  a  darker,  more  somber  tone  (accen- 
tuated by  a  blacker,  colder  ink),  recalling  the  daguerreo- 
type original  a  little  more  mechanically,  perhaps.  Doney's 
Distinguished  Americans  at  a  Meeting  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society    (1854)    contains  over  fifty  portraits. 

There  are  others.  H.  S.  Sadd,  Sartain's  son  Samuel, 
and  S.  H.  Gimber.     Thomas  B.  Welch  and  his  one-time 


ii8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

(about  1840-48)  partner  Adam  B.  Walter,  who  did  a 
Washington  after  R.  Peale,  were  both  known  as  en- 
gravers in  stipple  and  in  mezzotint,  a  fact  which  in  itself 
might  explain  a  tendency  to  use  the  "  mixed  method " 
already  referred  to.  This  method  was  employed  with 
light-hearted  industry  by  H.  Wright  Smith  (a  pupil  of 
Doney),  George  E.  Ferine,  J.  C.  Buttre  and  others.  Yet 
farther  names  which  illustrate  the  use  of  mezzotint  by 
engravers  identified  rather  with  work  on  copper  in  line 
and  stipple  are  those  of  J.  C.  McRae  {Bishop  J.  M. 
JVainwright,  after  Thomas  Hicks,  1854),  Illman  &  Sons 
(Washington  Family,  after  Savage),  and  Illman  &  Pil- 
brow  (portrait  of  Washington),  on  all  of  whose  work 
one  has  no  cause  to  insist  beyond  this  citation  of  it  as 
an  example  of  the  commercialization  of  mezzotint.  The 
records  of  some,  at  least,  of  these  men  show  pretty  con- 
clusively that  they  began  work  on  a  more  ambitious  scale 
than  that  indicated  by  the  smooth,  characterless  pot- 
boilers to  which  the  exigencies  of  business  held  them; 
such  must  really  be  judged  by  some  of  their  earlier  and 
less  familiar  engravings. 

The  tendency  in  "  mixed  method  "  portraits  was,  on 
the  whole,  toward  burin-engraving.  Line-engraving  held 
its  own  to  the  final  exclusion  of  mezzotint,  and  was  in  its 
turn  supplanted,  to  a  very  great  extent,  by  wood-engrav- 
ing. 

But  the  glamor  of  the  golden  period  of  British  mezzo- 
tint never  faded  absolutely.  In  England,  within  the  past 
twenty-five  years,  Thomas  G.  Appleton  and  others  have 
responded  to  the  interest  of  collectors  and  other  art  lovers 


MEZZOTINT  119 

In  one  of  the  most  notable  pages  of  their  country's  art  his- 
tory, reviving  with  much  success  the  memories  of  those 
days  of  stately  grace  and  bewigged  dignity.  Such  tradi- 
tions wanting  in  this  country,  one  could  at  most  expect  a 
utilization  of  the  peculiar  qualities  of  mezzotint  to  invest 
portraiture  with  its  richness  and  sonority.  That,  William 
Sartain,  the  painter  (son  of  John  Sartain),  did  in  various 
portraits,  Washington  after  Schuessele  (1864),  John 
Brown,  Gen.  Braddock  ( 1899),  and  in  those,  all  in  pure 
mezzotint,  of  Washington,  Byron  and  Irving,  the  last 
two  printed  in  brown,  a  color  that  has  been  found  more 
satisfactory  to  many  than  an  absolute  black.  Max  Rosen- 
thal, who  in  etching  and  lithography  has  industriously 
served  the  interest  in  American  portraiture,  used  mezzo- 
tint also,  creditably,  and  in  its  pure  form.  Among  his 
portraits  are  those  of  William  Dunlap,  Benjamin  Harri- 
son and  Washington,  after  Stuart. 

The  most  recent  use  of  the  mezzotint  tools  has  placed 
them  at  the  service  of  the  color  print,  a  field  in  which 
American  artists  of  to-day  do  not  stand  second  to  their 
British  contemporaries.  It  is  often  said  that  the  old 
English  mezzotints  became  best  fitted  for  printing  in 
color  after  a  number  of  impressions  in  black  had  been 
pulled  therefrom.  The  modern  mezzotinters  in*  color 
rock  and  scrape  their  plates  with  direct  reference  to  their 
immediate  use  for  color  printing. 

S,  Arlent  Edwards  has  achieved  noteworthy  and  in- 
ternational prominence  in  this  field.  Catalogues  of  his 
work  include  plates  after  artists  of  quite  different  periods, 
styles  and  points  of  view, — Gainsborough,  Hals,  Greuze, 


120  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Da  Vinci,  Lancret,  Ghirlandaio,  Rembrandt,  Vigee  Le 
Brun,  Morland,  Holbein,  Van  Dyck,  Luini,  Botticelli. 
The  great  variety  in  method  and  subjects  indicated  by  this 
list  he  has  reproduced  with  a  soft  richness  of  color.  In 
the  latter  he  has  not  hesitated  to  vary  occasionally  from 
the  originals.  Such  emphasis  on  the  personal  element  in 
these  translations  from  canvas  to  paper  makes  the  product 
something  to  be  collected  for  the  sake  of  the  engraver 
quite  apart  from  consideration  of  the  original  artist.  His 
plates  are  produced  in  one  printing,  absolutely  without 
retouching  by  hand  on  the  print.  His  Fisit  to  the  Board- 
ing School,  after  Morland,  is  considered  by  Frederick  R. 
Halsey  "  his  best,  certainly  technically."  Charles  Bird 
and  J.  S.  King  have  also  been  enlisted  in  the  service  of  this 
specialty,  which  has  its  circle  of  discriminating  and  admir- 
ing collectors. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  record  any  noteworthy 
effort  of  our  artists  to  enter  the  bypaths  of  original  pro- 
duction in  any  of  the  reproductive  graphic  arts.  In  mez- 
zotint such  cases  are  rare  enough  abroad  and  more  so 
with  us.  One  of  our  artists,  at  least,  used  this  medium, 
and  with  a  freedom  of  manner  and  a  richness  of  effect 
that  open  up  interesting  possibilities  in  its  use  as  a  painter 
art.  That  was  James  D.  Smillie,  a  master  craftsman, 
whose  Hollyhocks,  a  plate  of  quiet  charm,  is  said  to  have 
been  scraped  direct  from  nature.  At  the  American  Water 
Color  Society's  exhibition  of  191 1  there  were  shown  his 
Evening,  Raquette  Lake;  Double  Hollyhocks;  A  Piece  of 
Jade  and  A  Shoreless  Sea,  the  last  an  unfinished  plate, 
free  in  feeling,  "  the  best  he  ever  did,"  said  Mr.  Mielatz 


MEZZOTINT  121 

to  me.  And  it  must  be  duly  recorded  here  also  that  John 
Henry  Hill,  painter  and  etcher,  was  led  by  his  admiration 
for  Turner  to  copy  in  mezzotint  a  plate  in  the  Liber 
Stiidiorum. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  original  etching  is  left  almost  y 
exclusively  to  etchers,  and  that  our  painters  stick  pretty 
closely  to  the  canvas,  it  seems  useless  to  hope  that  any 
of  these  same  painters  may  turn  occasionally  to  the  medium 
which  offers  them  such  interesting  and  profitable  by-roads 
to  explore  by  way  of  mental  diversion.  Perhaps  some  of 
the  specialists  who  have  In  recent  years  labored  so  well 
to  revive  the  appreciation  of  painter-etching  may  be  led 
to  give  attention  to  mezzotint.  Perhaps  Mielatz  or  some 
one  inspired  by  him  ?  Possibly  the  attractions  of  the  mon- 
otype may  help  to  lead  the  way  to  an  understanding  of 
opportunities  dormant  in  mezzotint. — Perhaps! 


CHAPTER  VI 

AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS 

Aquatint  is  one  of  the  graphic  arts  with  which  the 
public  is  least  familiar.  It  is  a  response  to  the  demand 
for  tone,  for  a  certain  completeness  of  effect  instead  of 
the  suggestion  of  the  etching,  for  a  fuller  rendition  of 
light  and  shade  in  place  of  the  line — after  all,  a  conven- 
tion— of  the  line-engraving  on  copper.  The  process  was 
used  in  France,  for  the  color  prints  of  Debucourt,  Des- 
courtis  et  al.,  with  complexity  of  manipulation  and  a 
superimposition  of  printings.  These  quite  obliterated  the 
traces  of  its  characteristic  features,  the  peculiarly  reticu- 
lated grain  caused  by  the  powdered  resin  (dusted  on  to 
the  plate  or  applied  suspended  in  alcohol),  which  formed 
a  sort  of  etching  ground  when  the  plate  was  put  in  the 
acid  bath.  This  feature  was  prominent  in  English  work, 
in  which  the  evident  prime  raison  d'etre  of  the  process, 
the  imitation  of  wash  drawings  in  water  color  or  sepia, 
is  quite  apparent.  Aquatinting  was  adapted  to,  and  much 
used  for,  the  illustration  of  books  of  travel  and  of  pic- 
torial topography  (such  as  the  "  Microcosm  of  London  " 
and  Richard  Ayton's  "  Voyage  round  Great  Britain  ") 
after  drawings  executed  in  light  outlines  and  flat  washes 
of  color  or  monotone.  Such  an  extensive  use  was  not  to 
be  expected  in  the  United  States,  partly,  perhaps,  on  ac- 
count of  a  lack  of  sufficient  artistic  talent  and  craftsman- 


y 


AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS    123 

ship,  and  partly  because  time  and  public  were  not  quite 
ripe.  But  the  possibilities  of  the  process  evidently  ap- 
pealed to  some  experimentative  spirits  here.  In  1799 
Edward  Savage  painted  and  engraved  two  pictures  of 
The  Constellation  and  VInsurgent,  one  of  the  fight  and 
another  of  the  chace.  Then,  in  May,  181 1,  some  land- 
scape plates  (views  of  Fort  Putnam  and  Fort  Clinton) 
appeared  in  the  Philadelphia  "  Port-Folio,"  very  crude, 
but  accompanied  by  high-sounding  and  hopeful  letter- 
press comments.  Bass  Otis,  the  portrait  painter,  tried  his 
hand  also  at  aquatinting.  Playing  at  Draughts,  after 
Burnet,  is  by  him,  as  well  as  portraits  of  Philip  S.  Physick, 
M.D.,  and  the  Rev.  Abner  Kneeland.  An  earlier  View 
of  the  Old  Brick  Meeting  House  in  Boston,  1808,  drawn 
by  John  Rubens  Smith  and  engraved  by  J.  Kidder,  is 
much  better  and  more  artistic  than  the  "  Port-Folio  " 
plates  just  mentioned,  showing  good  contrasts  of  light 
and  shade,  with  rolling  clouds  to  counteract  the  straight 
lines  of  the  buildings.  Kidder's  plates  include  several 
other  Boston  views,  one  {Court  House)  after  his  own 
design.  His  View  on  Boston  Common,  published  in 
"The  Polyanthos  "  (Boston,  June,  18 13),  was  referred 
to  editorially  as  the  work  of  "  Master  J.  Kidder,"  and 
"  his  first  essay  in  aquatinta."  J.  R.  Smith  himself  did 
Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  Rhode  Island  views,  all 
large,  {Catskill  Mountain  House  appearing  as  late  as 
1 830) ,  some  after  his  own  designs,  as  was  also  a  fireman's 
certificate.  Two  Hudson  River  Portfolio  plates — No.  2 : 
Junction  of  the  Sacandaga  and  Hudson  Rivers  and  No.  3  : 
Hadley's  Falls — appeared  over  his  name.    Stauffer  notes 


124  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

two  plates  by  Wm.  Hamlin  of  Providence,  the  mezzotint 
engraver:  Peacock  and  L'Epervoir  (naval  combat)  and 
U.  S.  Ship  Philadelphia  at  Tripoli  (ship  on  fire). 
Francis  Kearny,  like  Smith,  tried  his  hand  at  various 
j  media ;  Dunlap  records  that  he  studied  aquatint  and 
other  processes  "  principally  by  the  aid  of  books."  Still 
another  line-engraver,  William  Rollinson,  practised  aqua- 
tint also;  at  the  E.  B.  Holden  sale  (No.  2061)  appeared 
a  view  of  the  New  York  Custom  House,  with  the  original 
drawing  from  which  it  was  engraved,  both  by  Rollinson. 
His  Fiew  of  New  York  from  Long  Island  (1801)  was 
from  a  drawing  by  J.  Wood.  Rollinson  used  both  stipple 
and  aquatint  in  a  portrait  of  Washington  after  Savage, 
and  in  the  portraits  by  Samuel  Folwell  aquatint  and 
stipple  also  appeared  in  a  combination  "  rather  pleasing 
in  effect,  though  showing  an  unpractised  hand."  Abner 
Reed,  a  stipple-engraver,  also  has  at  least  one  aquatint 
portrait  to  his  credit,  that  of  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards, 
after  Molthrop,  as  well  as  a  series  of  Six  Views,  in  Aqua- 
tinta  taken  from  Nature  (Hartford,  18 10).  And  to  the 
occasional  aquatints  by  line-engravers  there  are  to  be 
added  also  the  views  by  William  Kneass  and  J.  I.  Pease 
{Fort  Niagara,  18 14),  and  one  by  F.  Shallus,  poor 
enough  but  with  a  certain  freedom  (in  sky  effect) 
in  contrast  with  his  fearful  line  portrait  of  Captain 
Cook. 

Particularly  identified  with  the  art  in  those  early  days 
was  William  Strickland,  the  architect.  He  did  small 
views,  such  as  View  on  the  Susquehannah  from  a  drawing 
by  J.  L.  Morton  ("  Port-Folio,"  Feb.,  18 16)  and  scenes 


AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS    125 

in  the  War  of  18 12  ("  Analectic  Magazine  ").  But  he 
also  signed  a  number  of  portraits  of  heroes  of  the  war, 
Hull,  Decatur,  Jackson,  Lawrence,  McDonough.  The 
use  of  aquatint  for  portraits  was  not  common  at  any  time; 
Strickland's  full-length  of  Meriwether  Lewis,  St.  Memim 
[sic!]  Pinx^,  done  in  coarse  grain,  gives  some  idea  of  his 
treatment  in  such  work.  A  thin  volume  published  in 
Baltimore  in  18 15,  "  The  Art  of  Colouring  and  Painting 
Landscapes  in  Water  Colours  ...  By  an  Amateur," 
has  ten  plates  by  Strickland,  colored  by  hand.  Still  an- 
other landscape  aquatinter  was  J.  Drayton, — and  a  good 
print  colorist  to  boot  {View  near  Bordentown,  engraved 
and  colored  by  J.  Drayton). 

Caricature,  too,  is  represented  here:  in  some  of  the  J/ 
plates  of  William  Charles  (John  Bull  and  the  Alexandri- 
ans, John  Bull  the  Ship-Baker)  and  in  a  later,  unsigned 
picture  of  John  Binns,  The  Pedlar  and  his  Pack. 
Charles,  by  the  way,  executed  also  plates  after  Row- 
landson  for  the  "  Vicar  of  Wakefield  "  and  the  "  Town 
of  Dr.  Syntax,"  which  he  published. 

The  ground  had  been  prepared  when  John  Hill  and 
W.  J.  Bennett,  both  Englishmen,  came  to  this  country 
in  18 16.  Their  works  mark  the  culmination  of  this  short 
period  of  successful  practice  of  the  art.  Hill,  who  had 
been  engaged  on  views  after  Turner,  Loutherbourg  and 
others,  before  he  came  to  the  United  States,  was  the 
father  of  John  William  Hill  (one  of  the  group  of  Amer- 
ican Pre-Raphaelites)  and  the  grandfather  of  John  Henry 
Hill  of  West  Nyack,  N.  Y.,  painter,  etcher  and  admirer 
of  Turner.    John  Hill  executed  a  series  of  large  plates 


126  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

after  designs  by  Joshua  Shaw  (Picturesque  Views  of 
American  Scenery,  1819)  and  W.  G.  Wall  (the  Hudson 
River  Portfolio).  This  Hudson  River  series,  an  early 
tribute  to  the  beauties  of  the  "  American  Rhine,"  pre- 
sumably had  a  respectable  sale.  At  all  events,  the  plates 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Henry  I.  Megarey  of  New 
York,  and  an  edition  was  issued  by  him.  For  the  benefit 
of  collectors  it  may  be  noted  that  there  was  some  re- 
numbering of  the  sheets,  so  that  impressions  exist  with 
numbers  different  from  those  given  in  Stauffer's  valuable 
work;  e.g.,  14,  2,  5,  20,  instead  of  Stauffer's  5,  8,  10,  13, 
and  so  on.  One  of  Hill's  best-known  plates — best  known 
mainly  on  account  of  its  local  interest  to  collectors — is 
the  view  of  Broadway,  New  York  City,  at  Canal  Street, 
Drawn  and  etched  by  T.  Horner,  aquatinted  by  J.  Hill, 
printed  by  fV.  Neale,  1836.  (This  giving  credit  to  the 
printer  is  not  uncommon  on  nineteenth  century  copper- 
plates in  line  and  other  processes,  J.  Neale,  Rollinson, 
Andrew  Maverick,  and  later  Butler  &  Long,  Kimmel  & 
Co.,  J.  E.  Gavit  and  W.  Pate  being  among  the  names 
encountered.) 

Hill,  who  was  a  good  craftsman  and  understood  his 
art,  appropriately  used  a  coarser,  more  open  grain  for 
these  large  plates,  which  were,  moreover,  colored  by 
hand.  For  his  earliest  works,  the  small  magazine  plates, 
published  in  black-and-white,  such  as  Haddel's  Point, 
S.  C,  Richmond,  Fa.,  and  York  Springs,  Fa.,  all  after 
C.  Fraser,  he  used  a  much  closer  grain,  suited  to  the  size 
of  the  picture.  A  slight  matter  this  may  seem  at  first 
sight,  but  in  its  way  it  is  an  exemplification  of  the  necessity 


AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS    127 

of  adjusting  means  to  end.  An  unusual  Hill  item  is  the 
Mill  at  Marlborough,  Md.,  after  E.  van  Blom,  cata- 
logued under  No.  3560  at  the  E.  B.  Holden  sale  with 
the  note  "  three  states  of  a  rare  and  undescribed  aqua- 
tint; in  colors,  in  tint  and  in  black." 

Bennett,  who  became  an  N.A.,  also  signed  plates 
well  known  to  collectors  of  views,  particularly  New  York 
City  views.  Two  of  his  most  interesting  plates  are 
South  Street,  N.  Y.  (of  which  impressions  exist  in  black- 
and-white  before  the  kettle  near  the  lower  left  corner, 
and  colored  with  that  implement  added),  and  Fulton 
Street,  both  from  his  own  drawings.  Among  his  plates 
for  the  "  New  Mirror  "  is  one  of  Hay  Sloops  on  the 
North  River  (1843);  the  accompanying  note  states: 
"  Fanny  Kemble  thought  the  sloops  of  the  North  River 
the  most  picturesque  things  she  had  seen  in  this  country." 
His  larger  pieces  include  New  York  from  Brooklyn 
Heights.  Painted  by  J.  W.  Hill  (1837),  New  York 
taken  from  the  Bay  near  Bedlow's  Island.  Painted  by 
J.  G.  Chapman,  Engraved  by  J.  JV.  [sic!]  Bennett, 
printed  in  colors,  the  views  of  Baltimore,  Boston  and 
Troy,  from  his  own  designs,  and  the  one  of  Buffalo  after 
J.  W.  Hill,  and  particularly  the  View  of  the  Great  Fire 
i8ss  and  Fiew  of  the  Ruins  after  the  Great  Fire,  both 
from  paintings  by  N.  Calyo,  a  scenic  artist.  And  at  least 
one  more  plate  is  to  be  noted  in  which  Bennett  had  a 
hand,  a  departure  into  figure  work:  the  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Maeder,  late  Miss  Clara  Fisher,  engraved  by  Stephen  H. 
Gimber  and  JVm.  J.  Bennett  from  the  original  picture 
by  Inman,  described  in  the  catalogue  of  the  E.  B.  Holden 


128  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

sale  (No.  4896)  as  "  excessively  scarce  ";  Gimber's  name 
is  not  mentioned  by  Stauffer,  who  lists  this  print. 

G.  Lehman  painted,  engraved  and  hand-colored  a 
series  of  Pennsylvania  views  (1829)  and  Annin  &  Smith, 
line  and  stipple  engravers,  and  for  a  time  also  in  the 
lithographic  business,  tried  their  hand  at  aquatinting  as 
well,  according  to  a  sales-catalogue  item:  Springfield  o.  c. 
Maximus,  painted  by  A.  Fisher. 

In  all  the  work  spoken  of,  aquatint  appears  in  flat  tints, 
rather  sharply  circumscribed  and  consequently  without 
gradations  (excepting  such  as  are  effected  through  water- 
color  washes),  and  with  a  resultant  occasional  stage- 
scenery  effect.  The  only  exception  to  this  is  found  in 
the  seven  or  eight  hundred  profile  portraits  of  American 
worthies  executed  by  Charles  Balthazar  Julien  Fevret  de 
Saint-Memin.  From  a  crayon  drawing  in  profile,  made 
with  the  aid  of  the  "  physionotrace,"  which  he  reduced 
with  a  pantograph  to  a  circle  about  two  inches  in  diam- 
eter, he  scratched  a  light  outline  on  copper,  finishing  with 
fine  aquatint  and  roulette.  Thus,  trace  of  the  grain  is 
practically  lost  in  a  sauce  of  grays  and  blacks.  One  of 
the  two  collections  of  proofs  of  these  portrait  plates 
formed  the  basis  of  the  volume  of  760  reproductions  of 
such  portraits  by  St.  Memin,  published  by  Elias  Dexter, 
New  York,  1862.  The  Grolier  Club  held  an  exhibition 
of  his  works  in  1899. 

There  was  some  stray  use  of  aquatint  until  well  into 
the  fifties,  notably  for  large  views.  Robert  Havell,  the 
English  engraver,  who  did  plates  for  Audubon's  book  on 
birds,  executed  a  view  of  Baltimore   (1847),  ^"d  two 


AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS    129 

panoramic  ones  of  New  York  City  (1844),  which  latter 
he  published  at  Sing  Sing.  Henry  Papprill  engraved  two 
large  views  of  New  York  City,  issued  in  1849,  ^^^  ^^ 
seen  from  Governor's  Island,  after  F.  Catherwood,  the 
other,  which  was  re-issued  1855  with  necessary  changes 
in  the  names  on  some  signboards,  from  St.  Paul's  Church, 
after  J.  W.  Hill.  Hill  designed  also  the  large  view  of 
New  York  City  from  Brooklyn,  engraved  by  Himly, 
printed  by  McQueen,  London,  1855.  This  engraver  is 
no  doubt  the  Swiss  Sigmund  Himely  (born  1801),  who 
worked  in  Paris,  but  did  at  least  two  other  views  of  the 
metropolis,  one  ( 1 85 1 )  painted  by  Heine,  J.  Kummer  and 
Dopier  (Heine  and  Dopier  spent  some  time  in  this  coun- 
try) ,  the  other,  Fue  de  New  York.  Prise  de  JVeahawk, 
after  Garneray,  published  in  Paris,  possibly  much  earlier, 
perhaps  in  the  thirties.  Another  foreign-made  view  of 
the  city  is  the  well-known  Winter  Scene  in  Broadway 
(1857)  by  P.  Girardet  after  H.  Sebron,  who  was  also 
in  New  York  City  at  the  same  time  as  Doepler.  The 
HIll-HImely  (1855)  view  is  possibly  more  often  encoun- 
tered In  its  later  state,  entirely  worked  over  with  ruled 
lines  by  C.  Mottram,  whose  name  appears  Instead  of 
HImely's. 

But,  despite  such  occasional  productions,  whatever 
vogue  aquatint  had  did  not  last  much  beyond  about  1840. 
Line-engraving,  and  later  on  also  lithography,  took  Its 
place  as  a  means  of  reproducing  pictures  of  landscape. 

It  was  not  until  the  movement  for  painter-etching  took 
place  In  the  seventies  and  eighties,  that  one  man  at  least 
turned  his  attention  again  to  the  disused  art.     That  was 


I30  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

James  D.  Smillie;  and  he  used  aquatint  as  a  painter  art, 
as  a  medium  for  direct  expression,  as  the  painter  uses 
paint  and  canvas,  as  Rembrandt  or  Whistler  used  etching 
or  lithography.  He  was  so  versatile  a  craftsman,  and 
his  life  was  so  busy  a  one,  that  he  could  not  devote  much 
time  to  this  one  specialty  in  graphic  art,  but  in  plates 
such  as  An  old  Dam  near  Montrose  and  Old  Houses  near 
Boulogne,  he  showed  a  mastery  of  technique  which  over- 
came some  of  the  difficulties  of  the  method  and  merged 
the  flat,  even  tints  into  each  other  with  more  than  a  sem- 
blance merely  of  a  gradual  passing  from  light  to  shadow, 
giving  quite  a  different  conception  of  the  process  than  had 
hitherto  obtained.  With  him,  too,  we  find  variation  of 
method  to  suit  the  particular  purpose :  Fairground,  Mon- 
trose, with  Sheep  shows  a  crayon-like  effect,  Pansies  is 
done  with  a  very  coarse  grain,  and  so  on.  All  the  plates 
mentioned  were  shown  at  the  American  Water  Color 
Society's  exhibition  in  1904. 

Quite  recently,  Charles  F.  W.  Mielatz,  a  craftsman 
ever  experimenting,  has  similarly  disclosed  somewhat  un- 
expected possibilities  in  painter-aquatint.  In  his  The 
Wave  the  art  has  undergone  a  transformation,  has 
through  scraping  and  other  manipulations  acquired  a  pli- 
ancy, a  fullness  of  delicate  gradation  that  once  seemed 
hardly  possible.  Moreover,  this  is  an  interesting  piece 
of  color-printing  in  two  tints,  bluish  green  above  and  yel- 
lowish below,  the  two  mingling  in  the  center.  The  print- 
ing was  done  from  one  plate  at  one  time,  the  color  having 
been  applied  a  la  poupee.  Again,  the  etching,  Grand  Cen- 
tral Depot  at  Night  (1889),  has  a  light  tint  of  aquatint. 


AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS    131 

which,  having  been  put  on  after  the  etched  lines,  took 
off  the  sharp  edge  of  the  latter  and  modulated  their 
incisiveness  into  something  like  the  suaver  effect  of  soft- 
ground  etching.  Finally,  in  Winter  Night,  he  employed 
organdy,  or  something  like  it,  to  regulate  the  grain  of 
the  aquatint.  The  textile  was  laid  onto  a  plate  covered 
with  etching  ground  and  run  through  the  press,  exposing 
the  plate  wherever  it  was  thus  pressed  through  the 
ground.  The  plate  was  then  subjected  to  the  action  of 
acid,  and  after  that  aquatinted.  The  process  is  there- 
fore in  a  measure  akin  to  what  is  known  as  "  sandpaper 
mezzotint."  Mielatz  used  aquatint  also  in  its  more  usual 
form,  and  as  a  reproductive  art,  in  a  series  of  New  York 
City  views  done  for  the  "  Society  of  Iconophiles  "  after 
pictures  on  Staffordshire  pottery,  the  proofs  printed  in 
blue  ink.  (The  original  stoneware,  by  the  way,  is  de- 
scribed in  R.  T.  Haines  Halsey's  "  Pictures  of  Early 
New  York  on  dark  blue  Staffordshire  Pottery,  together 
with  Pictures  of  Boston  and  New  England,  Philadelphia, 
the  South  and  West,"  New  York,  1899.) 

Usually,  however,  aquatint  is  employed  as  an  accessory 
to  the  etched  line,  either  to  add  a  tone  in  black  {vide 
Goya  or  Klinger)  or  to  serve  as  a  basis  to  hold  color 
(so  used  by  French  etchers  to-day).  John  Henry  Hill, 
in  an  etched  view  of  Niagara,  applied  the  grain  on  the 
falling  water  and  foam  with  a  delicacy  similar  to  that  of 
the  sky  of  Dunstanhoroiigh  Castle  in  Turner's  Liber 
Studiorum.  His  Moonlight  on  the  Androscoggin,  en- 
tirely in  aquatint,  was  published  in  the  "  American  Art 
Review."     Helen  Hyde  executed  at  least  one  plate  in 


132  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

black-and-white,  a  Japanese  subject  with  the  flat  effect 
of  Japanese  wood-block  tints  and  with  a  somewhat  Goya- 
like darkness  and  solidity.  W.  F.  Hopson  has  also  em- 
ployed aquatint  as  an  accessory.  Likewise  Addison  T. 
Millar,  to  add  tone  to  some  of  his  etched  plates,  for 
instance,  The  Sheep  fold,  Laren  (1904)  and  Moonrise, 
the  Shipyard  (1905).  Millar  has  sometimes  employed 
an  unusual  procedure;  he  has  washed  a  drawing  on  a  plate 
with  prepared  ink,  then  covered  the  plate  with  etching 
ground,  immersed  it  in  water,  thereby  dissolving  the  ink 
and  lifting  off  the  ground  above  it,  thus  baring  the  plate 
wherever  it  had  been  drawn  upon.  Aquatint  was  then 
applied,  taking  effect,  of  course,  only  on  the  bared  por- 
tions. 

Mary  Cassatt  also  did  some  aquatints  printed  in  black, 
but  used  the  process  more  notably  in  a  fine  grain,  to  hold 
color,  in  her  dry-points  intended  to  be  printed  with  some- 
thing of  the  effect  of  Japanese  chromo-xylographs. 

The  color  etchings  of  George  Senseney,  which,  though 
aiming  at  completeness  of  tonal  effect,  are  of  a  note- 
worthy spontaneity  and  freshness  of  view,  are  produced 
by  a  blending  of  soft-ground  etching  and  aquatint.  These 
two  media,  with  the  addition  of  rouletting,  were  used  also 
in  Mielatz's  Road  to  the  Beach  (1890).  Lester  G. 
Hornby,  too,  has  occasionally  used  aquatint  and  soft- 
ground  etching  in  combination,  both  in  color-work  and 
in  black-and-white.  And  in  recent  years  Vaughan  Trow- 
bridge for  a  while  employed  the  aquatint  ground  in  prac- 
tical purity,  to  express  light  and  shade  and  tone  by  "  stop- 
ping out,"  and  as  a  means  for  holding  color  applied  with 


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AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS    133 

a  completeness  of  effect  approaching  that  of  the  aquarelle 
or  oil-painting,  a  fullness  of  color  expression  such  as  we 
find  it  in  the  color  etchings  of  Thaulow,  Laffitte  and 
others,  published  in  Paris.  J.  S.  King,  using  aquatint  as 
an  accessory  to  get  tones  in  reproductive  etchings,  applied 
the  acid  with  a  feather  or  brush  in  order  to  avoid  the 
characteristic  sharp  edges. 

While  the  record  of  American  achievement  in  this  art 
of  pleasing  effects  is  not  an  extensive  one,  it  embraces 
practically  all  its  possibilities,  presented  with  noteworthy, 
and  at  times  masterly,  craftsmanship. 

There  are  other  methods  of  producing  tints  and  tones 
on  copper  plates.  Foul  biting,  sulphur,  scotch-stone,  and 
experiments  such  as  etching  zinc  with  rain-water  (made 
by  Mielatz),  are  noted  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  etching. 
There  is  sandpaper  mezzotint,  too,  which  Pennell  has 
used  occasionally  to  produce  grained  tint. 

Finally,  there  is  the  monotype,  which  may  as  well  be 
considered  with  miscellaneous  processes  here,  although  its 
effect  is  rather  closer  to  the  mezzotint,  which  it  resembles 
at  least  in  this  that  it  is  produced  by  elimination  from 
a  dark  basis,  the  lights  being  wiped  out. 

The  monotype  is  produced  by  painting  on  the  plate 
with  printer's  ink,  or  oil  colors  (Bacher  used  "burnt 
sienna  or  ivory  black  with  a  medium"),  applied  in  an 
even  tint  and  then  worked  up  with  rags,  brushes,  stumps, 
brush-handles,  fingers, — any  instruments  to  suit  the  artist's 
fancy  and  serve  his  purpose.  Then,  with  the  ink  or  color 
still  wet,  the  plate  is  run  through  the  press,  with  a  re- 
sultant impression  on  paper  that  must  of  course  be,  in 


134  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

each  case,  unique,  (Hubert  von  Herkomer,  in  his 
"  spongotype,"  did  indeed  invent  a  method  of  taking  more 
than  one  impression,  but  the  process  is  generally  used  as 
here  described.)  The  process  has  a  peculiar  attraction 
for  artists,  from  Castiglione's  time  to  the  present  day. 
The  monotypist  within  the  proper  limits  of  the  art  works 
with  unrestrained  freedom  while  at  the  same  time  con- 
siderable demands  are  made  on  his  dexterity  and  experi- 
ence in  order  that  the  best  results  may  be  foreseen  and 
produced. 

S.  R.  Koehler,  in  his  German  account  of  American 
etching,  says:  "The  first  to  show  such  impressions  pub- 
licly in  America  was  Wm.  M.  Chase  in  New  York;  soon 
afterward  Charles  H.  Walker  in  Boston  discovered  the 
process  independently,  and  has  since  applied  it  with  par- 
ticular preference,  and  Peter  Moran  and  others  followed 
them."  Dr.  Charles  H.  Miller,  N.A.,  says  that  when  in 
Rotterdam  in  1879  he  bought  a  monotype,  a  head  of  a 
girl  of  a  Carriere-like  mistiness,  inscribed  T.  Cremona 
dip.  I.  Ciconi  inc.  This  he  showed  to  fellow  members 
of  the  Art  Club  of  New  York,  and  it  was  subsequently 
exhibited  in  that  city.  Thereupon,  says  Mr.  Miller, 
"  Mr.  Chase  and  others  experimented  with  the  fascinat- 
ing possibilities  "  of  this  process.  Chase  showed  a  mono- 
type at  a  black-and-white  show  at  the  Academy  (N.  Y.) 
in  1 88 1,  and  Peter  Moran's  exhibits  at  the  first  etching 
show  in  Philadelphia  (1882-83)  included  some  specimens 
of  this  fascinating  art.  Christian  Brinton  records  also 
the  enthusiasm  of  Joseph  Jefferson  for  this  medium,  and 
the  work  in  colors  of  Prof.  Rufus  Sheldon. 


AQUATINT  AND  SOME  OTHER  TINTS    135 

Otto  H.  Bacher's  method,  already  referred  to,  was 
employed,  as  Bacher  records  in  his  "  With  Whistler  in 
Venice,"  by  Duveneck  and  his  class  *'  as  a  means  of  amuse- 
ment," under  the  name  of  "  Bachertype." 

In  recent  years  the  process  has  again  attracted  in- 
creased attention  among  artists.  The  late  Louis  Loeb, 
Augustus  Koopman,  E.  Haskell  and  Charles  Warren 
Eaton  have  practised  it.  Loeb,  Albert  Sterner  and  E. 
Peixotto  were  among  the  members  of  a  monotype  club 
formed  in  New  York  City  under  the  presidency  of  Leslie 
Cauldwell,  according  to  Brinton.  Eaton  showed  some 
prints,  rich  in  effect,  at  the  exhibition  of  the  American 
Water  Color  Society  in  19 10,  where  there  were  also  sev- 
eral interesting  ones  in  color — Girl  at  the  Bath  Tub, 
Girl  near  Mirror — by  Everett  Shinn,  who  called  them 
"  pastel  monotypes."  Work  in  color  was  shown  also 
by  Rufus  Sheldon  at  the  Society's  exhibition  in  1908.  The 
19 10  exhibit  included  also  some  monotypes  by  J.  F. 
Burns,  a  newcomer. 

Noteworthy  employment  of  the  process  has  been  made 
by  C.  F.  W.  Mielatz,  who  used  it,  with  touches  of  color, 
in  reproducing  certain  picturesque  spots  in  New  York 
City,  in  a  series  of  plates  done,  and  reproduced  in  photo- 
gravure, for  the  Society  of  Iconophiles  (1908).  But  he 
has  also  executed  a  number  of  monotypes  independently 
of  this  set,  getting  interesting  effects  with  a  pigment  not 
intended  for  art  or  even  color  purposes  at  all,  drawing 
in  broad  strokes  which  contracted  when  the  plate  was 
heated. 

Finally,  In  191 1,  Albert  Sterner  held  in  New  York  an 


136  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

exhibition  of  monotypes,  among  them  The  Echo,  The 
Model  and  The  Gray  Vase,  which  last-named  the  "  Even- 
ing Post "  singled  out  particularly  for  "  the  wonderful 
lights  on  the  woman's  flesh  "  and  a  "  serenity  of  color  " ; 
My  hoy  was  characterized  as  a  "  remarkable  piece  of 
mellow  color."  Sterner,  working  with  brush,  cloth  or 
fingers,  modeling  with  rapid  energy,  has  shown  what  re- 
sults training,  fine,  sensitive,  artistic  temperament  and 
flexibility  of  method  can  effect  in  this  medium. 

All  proper  use  of  such  processes  by  artists  is  certainly 
to  be  commended  and  desired.  It  gives  new  viewpoints, 
arouses  interest,  protects  from  the  rut. 


CHAPTER  VII 
WOOD-ENGRAVING 

Woodcut  illustrations  appeared  in  the  earliest  books 
printed  in  Europe  with  movable  type,  as  well  as  in  the 
block  books  (e.g.,  "  Biblia  Pauperum  ").  So  the  earliest 
efforts  to  bring  knowledge  to  wider  circles  through  the 
printed  page  profited  by  the  powerful  aid  of  pic- 
torial representation.  And  wood-engraving,  through  its 
homely,  straightforward  vigor  and  its  possibilities  of 
more  rapid  multiplication  and  consequent  wider  circula- 
tion than  engraving  on  copper,  remained  the  reproductive 
art  of  most  direct  popular  appeal,  from  its  rudest  begin- 
nings to  the  most  highly  finished  products  of  recent  times. 
With  the  development  of  line-engraving  on  copper  wood- 
engraving  sank  into  decay,  so  that  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, when  the  period  of  glorious  achievement  in  French 
portraiture  had  already  set  in,  the  copper-plate,  both  in 
etched  and  engraved  form,  took  possession  also  of  the 
field  of  book-illustration.  Wood-engraving,  in  the  late 
seventeenth  century  and  during  the  eighteenth,  was  rele- 
gated to  the  chapbook  and  other  like  means  of  reaching 
the  common  people.  A  taint  of  vulgarity  seemed  to 
cling  to  this  misunderstood  art,  and  it  remained  for 
Thomas  Bewick  to  open  the  way  for  new  and  hitherto 
unthought-of  possibilities. 

137 


138  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

America  formed,  quite  naturally,  no  exception  to  the 
general  rule.  The  parallel  with  European  conditions 
may  be  drawn  even  to  this  extent  that  the  first  engraving 
known  to  have  been  executed  in  this  country  was  on  wood. 
This  was  a  portrait  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Mather,  sup- 
posed to  have  been  engraved  by  John  Foster,  to  whom 
Dr.  Samuel  Abbott  Green  devoted  a  volume :  *'  John 
Foster :  the  earliest  American  engraver  and  the  first  Bos- 
ton printer"  (Boston,  1909).  Dr.  Green  reproduces 
two  impressions  of  this  print,  and  tells  us  that  the  inscrip- 
tion in  ink,  Johannes  Foster  sculpsit,  on  one  of  them, 
which  was  found  by  Wilberforce  Eames  as  a  frontispiece 
to  a  copy  of  Mather's  life  (1670)  in  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, is  in  the  handwriting  of  Rev.  Wm.  Adams  of 
Dedham,  who  originally  owned  the  book  and  knew 
Foster.  This  engraver  did  also  the  seal  and  arms  of  ye 
colony  (appearing  in  "  General  Laws  and  Liberties  of 
the  Massachusetts  Colony,"  1672)  and  a  map  of  New 
England  (1677).  This  map,  issued  with  Rev.  W.  Hub- 
bard's narrative  of  Indian  troubles,  was  the  first  one 
engraved  in  this  country. 

Subsequent  response  to  whatever  needs  our  colonies 
had  for  portraiture  or  views  came  practically  all  in  cop- 
per-engraving, for  which  our  silversmiths  had  a  certain 
preparation  in  their  training.  The  results  were  often  very 
crude,  but  they  were  surrounded  by  the  glamor  of  the 
copper-plate  and  its  clean-cut  lines.  The  rougher  effects 
of  the  woodcut  methods  of  the  day  appeared  in  printer's 
stock  ornaments,  in  newspaper  titles  and  occasional  cuts, 
even  in  paper  currency,  printed  from  the  wood  block  or 


WOOD-ENGRAVING  139 

from  type-metal.  There  was,  for  instance,  the  title  de- 
sign of  the  "  Boston  Gazette  "  (March  11,  1771)  repre- 
senting Britannia  and  various  attributes.  Or  such  early 
attempts  at  newspaper  cartooning  as  the  snake  divided 
into  pieces  representing  the  individual  colonies,  with  the 
device  Unite  or  die  or  Join  or  die,  which  appeared  in  vari- 
ous papers  before  the  Revolution.  This  is  attributed  to 
Benjamin  Franklin.  Albert  Matthews  finds  that  McMas- 
ter  was  not  warranted  in  absolutely  asserting  that  "  both 
the  design  and  the  cutting  were  the  work  of  Franklin." 
On  the  other  hand,  Linton  cites  the  report  that  Franklin 
cut  the  ornaments  for  his  Poor  Richard's  Almanac  on 
metal,  in  the  manner  of  a  woodcut,  while  Abel  Bowen 
wrote :  "  I  have  evidence  that  Dr.  Franklin  engraved 
some  devices  on  wood  and  that  some  were  used  in  the 
printing  of  the  Continental  money." 

In  "Father  Abraham's  Almanac"  for  1859  there  is 
a  frontispiece  representing  a  man  at  a  telescope,  with  a 
four-line  verse  beginning  "  Oft  have  I  viewed,  in  ad- 
miration lost."  It  is  signed  H.  D.,  and  the  theory  that 
the  engraver  is  Henry  Dawkins  is  invitingly  obvious. 

There  are  to  be  recorded  even  such  ambitious  attempts 
as  the  series  of  profile  portraits,  each  representing  a  man 
wearing  a  cocked  hat.  All  are  either  printed  from  the 
same  block  or  copied  from  the  same  original,  but  they 
are  labeled,  respectively,  Bradley,  Governor  of  Rhode 
Island,  Columbus,  Henry  Lee,  Samuel  Adams  and  Rich' 
ard  Howel. 

A  few  instances  of  known  eighteenth  century  engravers 
are  noted  in  Stauffer  and  elsewhere;  Thomas  Sparrow 


I40  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

and  Francis  Dewing  (who  did  also  calico  printing),  both 
engravers  on  copper,  produced  also  some  woodcuts. 

The  fragmentary  appearance  of  this  information  is  in 
accord  with  the  sporadic  nature  of  the  work  described. 

With  us  the  renascence  came,  as  in  England,  through 
the  "  white  line."  Late  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Dr. 
Alexander  Anderson,  having  first  tried  copper-engraving, 
and  then  cutting  in  relief  on  type-metal  for  newspapers, 
saw  work  by  Bewick  in  1793  and  was  led  to  try  box- 
wood. He  re-engraved  Bewick  cuts  ("Quadrupeds," 
New  York,  1804,  and  "  Emblems  of  Mortality  "),  mean- 
while studying  medicine.  He  soon  found  much  employ- 
ment from  various  publishers;  of  one  of  them,  Samuel 
Wood,  Anderson  himself  says :  "  I  did  an  infinity  of  cuts 
for  his  excellent  set  of  small  books."  The  amount  of 
work  he  accomplished  was  enormous;  the  New  York 
Public  Library  has  about  8,000  proofs  in  old  scrap-books, 
apparently  including  not  many  duplicates.  C.  L.  Moreau, 
in  1872,  printed  a  collection  of  "  one  hundred  and  fifty 
engravings  executed  after  his  ninetieth  year,"  and  next 
year  "  Illustrations  of  Mother  Goose's  Melodies,  de- 
signed and  engraved  on  Wood  by  Alexander  Anderson." 
Lossing  says  he  did,  on  wood,  "  from  sheet  ballads, 
primers,  business  cards,  tobacconist's  devices,  wrappers 
of  playing  cards,  diplomas  and  newspaper  cuts  of  every 
sort,  to  magazines,  stately  scientific  treatises  and  large 
Bibles."  An  Interesting  example  of  his  work,  done  at 
about  his  best  period  (18 18),  Is  the  bust  portrait  of 
Washington  (the  one  facing  right!),  printed  from  the 
original  block  as  a  frontispiece  to  "  A  Bibliography  of 


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WOOD-ENGRAVING  141 

American  Books  relating  to  Prints,"  by  H.  C.  Levis 
(1910).  It  is  dark  in  tone,  the  face  vigorously  modeled 
without  cross-hatching,  and  the  background  criblee 
(white  dots  on  a  black  ground).  At  least  two  large 
engravings  are  recorded  to  his  credit,  Returning  from  the 
Boar  Hunt,  after  Ridinger,  a  bold,  vigorous  piece  of 
white-line  engraving,  and  Water-fowl  after  Teniers. 
These  were  copied,  it  is  said,  from  copper-plates,  but  it 
is  a  rather  remarkable  fact  that  Anderson,  though  orig- 
inally an  engraver  on  copper,  did  not  allow  that  fact 
to  influence  him  in  his  work  on  wood.  Even  when  copy- 
ing Shakespeare  cuts  after  Thurston  by  John  Thompson, 
he  has  toned  down  the  metallic  luster  of  the  original  by 
adhering  strictly  to  the  white  line  and  preserving  the  es- 
sential character  of  wood-engraving,  instead  of  twisting 
it  into  an  imitation  of  copper-plate.  That  element  should 
be  fully  appreciated. 

Wm.  Clark,  an  old  Philadelphia  engraver,  in  a  letter 
to  the  present  writer,  very  aptly  quoted  the  "  Port 
Folio,"  1812,  page  14,  with  reference  to  Shelric  and 
Fenvula,  from  Ossian,  by  Anderson,  shown  at  the  second  / 
annual  exhibition  of  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts:  "We 
have  at  all  times  been  delighted  on  viewing  the  works 
of  this  excellent,  useful  and  unassuming  artist.  Engrav- 
ings on  wood,  when  finely  executed,  are  of  great  import- 
ance, as  they  are  printed  with  the  letter  press,  take  off 
large  numbers  of  impressions,  and  are  afforded  at  a  low 
price,  but  the  talent  and  skill  necessary  in  this  truly  useful 
branch  of  the  arts  is  not  perhaps  at  present  sufficiently 
appreciated."    The  recognition  of  Anderson  and  the  in- 


142  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

elusion  of  a  wood-engraver's  work  in  so  early  an  art 
exhibition  are  as  noteworthy  as  is  the  understanding  of 
both  the  commercial  and  the  artistic  possibilities  of  wood- 
engraving  shown  in  this  notice.  It  should  be  added,  as 
farther  indicating  Anderson's  standing,  that  he  was  an 
honorary  member  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design. 
Benson  J.  Lossing  issued  a  "  Memorial "  (1872),  E.  A. 
Duyckinck  a  "  Brief  Catalogue  of  the  Books  illustrated 
with  Engravings  by  Dr.  Alexander  Anderson  "  (1885), 
and  Frederick  M.  Burr  a  "  Life  "  (1893). 

Anderson  had  four  pupils.  Garret  Lansing,  William 
Morgan  (who  "  abandoned  the  graver  for  the  pencil  "), 
John  H.  Hall,  and  his  own  daughter  Anna. 

John  H.  Hall,  who  began  in  1826,  and  in  1830  found 
employment  with  Carter,  Andrews  &  Co.,  did  some  of 
his  best  work,  ornithological  illustrations,  in  a  spirit  and 
manner  showing  that  Bewick's  influence  had  descended 
through  Anderson  to  his  pupil.  He  could  be  both  deli- 
cate, as  in  some  of  his  landscapes,  and  vigorous,  as  when 
he  combined  the  white  line  and  inky  blacks.  In  an  an- 
nouncement dated  Albany,  Oct.  20,  1826,  he  states  that 
"  it  is  a  fact  well  attested,  though  not  generally  known, 
that  engravings  on  boxwood,  with  proper  usage,  are  more 
durable  than  either  type-metal  cuts  or  copper-plate  en- 
gravings." 

Meanwhile,  Abel  Bowen,  who  began,  as  he  says  him- 
self, as  early  as  1805,  brought  the  art  to  Boston  about 
1 8 12,  his  apprentice,  Nathaniel  Dearborn,  starting  in 
business  there  for  himself  some  two  years  later.  Much  of 
Bowen's  production  consisted  of  copies  for  American  edi- 


WOOD-ENGRAVING  143 

tions  of  English  books,  for  example  the  "  Young  Ladies' 
Book  "  (1830).  "  Very  remarkable  for  their  fidelity  to 
the  original,"  says  Linton,  speaking  of  the  cuts  in  the 
latter;  "  the  distinguishing  manner  of  each  engraver  is  so 
exactly  preserved  that  I  was  with  difficulty  convinced  the 
cuts  were  not  done  from  transfers."  The  proofs  printed 
in  Wm.  Henry  Whitmore's  monograph  on  Bowen  (Bos- 
tonian  Society:  1887)  are  not  particularly  remarkable, 
but  are,  on  the  whole,  good  commercial  work. 

William  Croome,  a  pupil  of  Bowen,  worked  somewhat 
similarly  to  his  master  but  subsequently  turned  to  illus- 
trating and  to  designing  for  bank-notes.  Other  pupils  of 
Bowen  were  G.  Thomas  Devereux,  Mallory,  Kilburn,  B. 
F.  Childs,  George  Loring  Brown  the  painter  and  Ham- 
matt  Billings  the  architect;  this  in  the  thirties. 

Bowen  was  a  publisher  of  illustrated  books.  He 
brought  out  "  The  Naval  Monument  "  ( 1816),  "  A  topo- 
graphical and  historical  Description  of  Boston  "  (18 17), 
"  Picture  of  Boston  "  (1829),  and  others  on  the  Massa- 
chusetts capital.  That  form  of  activity  is  found  in  a 
number  of  other  cases.  There  was  John  W.  Barber  of 
New  Haven,  "  draughtsman,  engraver,  author,  editor 
and  publisher,"  who  issued  a  number  of  historical  works, 
and  who,  it  is  said,  devoted  his  energies  not  so  much 
to  accomplishment  in  engraving  as  to  preaching  "  the 
Gospel  by  means  of  pictures."  For  at  least  one  of  his 
books,  the  one  on  Connecticut,  he  traveled  about,  collect- 
ing material  and  making  sketches  for  the  illustrations, 
just  as  Benson  J.  Lossing  did,  in  later  years,  when  pre- 
paring his  "  field  books  "  of  the  Revolution  and  the  War 


144  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

of  1812,  the  volume  on  the  Hudson  River,  and  similar 
books.  Several  other  engravers  became  known  as  pub- 
lishers of  illustrated  books  or  periodicals.  T.  W.  Strong 
issued  "  Yankee  Notions,"  "  Young  America  "  and  other 
serials.  Joseph  A.  Adams,  of  whom  more  presently,  was 
directly  interested  in  the  Harper  Bible.  Later  in  the  cen- 
tury John  Karst  was  projecting  and  publishing  school 
books  and  A.  V.  S.  Anthony  was  superintending  for  Os- 
good in  Boston  the  preparation  of  finely  illustrated 
books  of  poetry  and  other  literature,  planning  text,  pic- 
tures and  all. 

Returning  to  our  earlier  engravers,  we  find  William 
Mason  introducing  the  art  to  Philadelphia  in  18 10,  fol- 
lowed by  his  pupil  Gilbert.  The  latter,  as  I  am  informed 
by  Wm.  Clark  (who  himself  began  his  apprenticeship  in 
185 1 ) ,  was  connected  with  the  "  American  Sunday  School 
Union."  Later  there  were  Fairchild  in  Hartford  and 
Horton  in  Baltimore. 

In  1829,  Abraham  J.  Mason,  an  Englishman,  came  to 
America,  was  made  an  Associate  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy in  1830,  and  later  became  professor  of  wood-engrav- 
ing at  that  institution,  delivering  also  a  course  of  lectures 
on  his  art.  But  it  seems  that,  although  he  also  had  a 
bookstore  on  Canal  Street,  New  York  City,  he  could  not 
command  a  satisfactory  income. 

All  these  and  other  names  are  recorded,  with  much 
interesting  comment,  in  W.  J.  Linton's  "  History  of 
Wood-engraving  in  America"  (Boston,  1882),  which 
appeared  originally  in  the  "  American  Art  Review."  De- 
spite this  increase  of  engravers,  and  the  large  amount  of 


WOOD-ENGRAVING  145 

work  turned  out  by  Anderson  alone,  Linton  says  that 
"  the  cuts  done  in  these  days  were  few;  the  principal  for 
toy  books  and  similar  juvenile  works,  published  by  Sam- 
uel Wood,  Mahlon  Day,  Solomon  King  and  other  New 
York  publishers."  Yet  Abel  Bowen,  as  far  back  as  18 12, 
when  he  issued  a  rather  poorly  executed  card,  "  immedi- 
ately," to  use  his  own  words,  "  received  orders  from  the 
principal  publishers  in  the  city."  So  there  must  have  been 
some  demand  for  such  work. 

Linton  notes  that  in  the  forties  illustrated  books  began 
to  increase,  and,  in  fact,  the  change  that  came  at  this 
time  is  quite  apparent.  The  "  Family  Bible,"  first  pro- 
jected in  1837,  was  brought  out  by  the  Harpers  in  1846, 
"  embellished  with  1,600  historical  engravings  by  J.  A. 
Adams,  more  than  1,400  of  which  are  from  original  de- 
signs by  J.  G.  Chapman,"  the  exceptions  being  transfers 
of  English  cuts.  Many  of  the  smaller  blocks  were  en- 
graved by  pupils  of  Adams.  There  was  no  use  of  the 
white  line  here;  it  was  all  straight  facsimile  work,  faith- 
ful rendering  of  Chapman's  lines,  which  latter,  further- 
more, were  executed  with  a  fineness  and  formal  pre- 
cision and  cross-hatching  quite  evidently  intentionally 
reminiscent  of  copper-plate  work.  All  of  this  had  to  be 
rendered  literally,  with  a  resultant  mechanical  hardness  in 
the  engraving.  This  feeling  appears  also  in  Chapman's 
"  American  Drawing  Book,"  issued  in  several  editions 
from  1847  on,  with  cuts  by  Kinnersley,  Herrick,  How- 
land,  Wright,  Bobbett,  Bookhout;  "the  very  perfection 
of  mechanism,"  says  Linton,  but  also  "  I  know  no  other 
book  like  this,  so  good,  so  perfect  in  all  it  undertakes." 


146  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

It  was  one  evidence  of  the  considerable  English  influ- 
ence on  American  wood-engraving,  this  quality  which  led 
Linton  to  speak  of  Adams  as  a  possible  American 
Thompson,  this  tendency  to  apply  the  methods  of  copper- 
plate engraving  to  the  wood.  This  is  referred  to  also  by 
S.  R.  Koehler,  in  his  chapter  on  the  United  States,  in 
Vol.  I  (on  wood-engraving)  of  "  Die  Vervielfaltigende 
Kunst  der  Gegenwart  "  (Vienna,  1887) .  Yet  the  "  Har- 
per Bible  "  in  drawing,  engraving  and  printing  was  a 
very  remarkable  production  for  its  time.  Linton  calls 
attention  particularly  to  Adams's  inventiveness  and  skill 
in  overcoming  difficulties  in  preparing  his  engraved 
blocks  for  the  press,  and  states  that  his  "  printing  of  his 
own  engraving  is  equal  to  the  best  of  any  time."  And 
of  his  engraving  he  says  that  the  best  work,  such  as  the 
Massacre  of  the  Innocents  and  Jacob's  Dream,  is  "  yet 
unequaled  in  this  country  [this  in  1882!]  and  worthy  to 
rank  beside  the  best  of  the  great  old  time  in  England." 

The  Bible  is  the  most  easily  accessible  of  Adams's 
works  and  the  one  by  which  he  is  on  the  whole  best 
known,  while  the  individual  print  by  him  probably  most 
often  cited  with  approbation  is  The  last  Arrow,  again 
after  a  drawing  by  Chapman,  done  in  1837  ^^r  the  "  New 
York  Mirror." 

The  reference  to  English  influence  recalls  the  stimu- 
lating infusion  of  British  blood  through  the  addition  of 
such  men  as  Alfred  Bobbett,  John  Andrew,  George  H. 
Thomas  (who  subsequently  returned  to  England)  and 
Robert  Carter  ("Frank  Leslie")  to  the  ranks  of  our 
native  engravers. 


WOOD-ENGRAVING  147 

The  increasing  skill  of  our  illustrators  also  counter- 
acted on  the  engravers.  Not  only  was  facsimile  repro- 
duction of  pencil  drawings  called  for,  but  washes  placed 
on  the  block  by  the  artist  had  to  be  rendered  in  lines. 
That  developed  interpretation.  By  1852,  in  which  year 
the  Putnams  issued  Irving's  "  Sketch  Book "  and  the 
"  Knickerbocker  History  of  New  York,"  we  had  such 
able  craftsmen  as  H.  W.  Herrick  and  E.  J.  Whitney 
(both  designers  also)  and  B.  F.  Childs  to  cut  on  wood  the 
illustrations  in  a  worthy  manner.  The  "  Sketch  Book," 
at  its  time  "  the  most  beautifully  got-up  book  that  had 
appeared,"  had  illustrations  by  Darley,  Hoppin,  William 
Hart  and  others,  engraved  by  Richardson;  the  "  Knicker- 
bocker History  "  was  illustrated  by  Darley  alone.  In 
the  latter  book,  one  may  indulge  in  interesting  compari- 
sons of  the  work  of  Childs  and  Herrick  (somewhat  ad- 
dicted to  inky  shadows)  and  speculations  as  to  the  extent 
to  which  the  manner  of  the  individual  engraver  may  have 
modified  the  design  of  the  illustrator.  To  these  and 
other  issues  from  the  presses  of  the  Harpers  and  the 
Putnams  there  came  a  third  strong  influence  toward  the 
advance  of  American  wood-engraving  and  book-illustra- 
tion,— the  American  Tract  Society,  to  whose  activity  in 
producing  adequate  illustration  Wm.  James  Linton  pays 
deserved  tribute.  Engraving  became  more  delicate  and 
clear  in  line,  tints  became  smoother  and  greater  attention 
was  paid  to  tone.  Kinnersley,  Annin,  Hayes,  J.  H.  Rich- 
ardson, Benjamin  F.  Childs,  Bogert,  Jocelyn,  Bobbett, 
Edmonds  and  Whitney  are  names  found  in  the  juvenile 
literature  published  by  the   Society.    Whitney's   work 


148  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

rather  stands  out,  his  engraving  of  Sir  John  Gilbert's 
drawings  being  particularly  noteworthy,  and  some  birds 
by  Childs  and  Kinnersley  after  Herrick  are  of  special 
interest.  Furthermore,  the  Civil  War  called  much  illus- 
trated literature  into  being. 

To  the  names  already  mentioned  are  now  to  be  added 
those  of  T.  W.  Strong,  D.  C.  Hitchcock,  S.  P.  Avery, 
W.  Roberts,  W.  Howland,  Lossing  &  Barritt,  Bobbett  & 
Edmonds,  Bobbett  &  Hooper,  J.  W.  and  N.  Orr,  Jocelyn 
&  Annin,  Morse,  Redding,  Orr  &  Andrews,  Richardson 
&  Co.,  Richardson  &  Cox,  Kingdon  &  Boyd.  The  fre- 
quent occurrence  of  firm  names  indicates  a  certain  com- 
mercialization of  production. 

About  the  fifties  or  sixties  there  came  also  the  use  of 
tint-blocks,  in  the  manner  of  the  old  chiaroscuro  prints. 
Much  less  elaborate,  however;  it  was  simply  a  matter 
of  using  an  extra  block  to  print  one  tint, — say  red,  or 
blue,  or  light  yellowish  brown, — in  which  some  high 
lights,  a  few  clouds  for  instance,  had  been  cut  out  so  as 
to  appear  white  in  the  print. 

Wood-engraving  was  now  the  principal  reproductive 
medium  through  which  any  graphic  art  was  brought  be- 
fore the  greater  public.  It  served  for  the  illustration  of 
books  (including  the  schoolbook  with  its  obvious  influ- 
ence on  the  impressionable  young  mind),  magazines, 
weekly  illustrated  journals,  comic  papers,  and  for  such 
an  occasional  cut  as  might  appear  in  the  daily  press,  the 
"  Herald  "  of  New  York,  for  instance.  The  illustrated 
daily  did  not  exist  in  those  days,  but  there  were  sporadic 
outbursts  in  the  one-issue  "  blanket  sheets." 


WOOD-ENGRAVING  149 

All  this  magazine  and  periodical  work  necessitated  a 
haste  that  neutralized  much  of  the  good  effect  which  the 
possibility  of  larger,  broader  treatment  may  have  had  In 
counteracting  the  tendency  to  mere  technical  finesse. 
During  the  War,  especially,  illustrators  and  engravers 
no  doubt  had  to  work  against  time.  A  number  of  draw- 
ings made  on  the  field  by  Leslie's  artists,  and  preserved 
in  the  New  York  Public  Library,  bear  written  mem- 
oranda to  guide  those  who  had  to  re-draw  the  sketches 
on  the  block  in  the  home  office. 

While  wood-engraving  served  temporary  needs.  It  also 
answered  more  and  more  the  demand  for  pictorial  in- 
struction through  the  reproduction  of  works  of  art  as 
well  as  of  beauty  of  natural  scenery. 

In  the  late  sixties  and  the  seventies  there  came  an 
increasing  improvement  in  technique,  which  found  em- 
ployment in  growing  plans  for  elaborately  illustrated 
books.  Gift  books,  editions  de  luxe  of  the  poets,  volumes 
of  travel  and  description  were  issued  with  a  wealth  of 
Illustrations.  Very  likely  there  were  not  a  few  cases  in 
which  such  undertakings  were  not  well-advised,  where 
the  text  even  did  not  call  for  adornment,  where  the  work 
had  no  raison  d'etre  beyond  the  production  of  a  seller, 
an  elegant  adornment  for  the  drawing-room  table.  No 
doubt,  too,  much  of  the  engraving  In  these  elaborate 
publications  showed  "  an  average  of  creditable  medi- 
ocrity." Yet  on  the  whole  the  tendency  toward  refine- 
ment must  have  tended  also  to  refine  public  taste,  and 
the  encouragement  afforded  both  designers  and  engravers 
no  doubt  resulted  In  mutual  influence  for  good  between 


150  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

the  two,  increasing  ability  on  each  side  affecting  the 
other. 

Linton  declaimed  vigorously  against  fineness,  against 
meaningless  niggling  delicacy,  against  the  weak  dexterity 
that  sought  distinction  in  the  imitation  of  the  steel-en- 
graving. But  he  is  careful  to  except  from  this  condemna- 
tion the  fineness  that  is  necessary  and  fitting,  such  as  is 
found  in  Henry  Marsh's  exquisitely  delicate  rendering 
of  the  downy,  evanescent  bloom  on  the  wings  of  moths, 
the  flabby  softness  of  caterpillars,  the  horny  hardness  of 
beetles,  in  Harris's  "  Insects  injurious  to  Vegetation  " 
(1862, — Mallory  did  some  similar  work  in  1869)  or  in 
Closson's  Winifred  Dysart  after  George  Fuller. 

A.  V.  S.  Anthony's  "  tasteful  supervision,"  during 
1866-89,  of  the  books  published  by  Osgood  of  Boston, 
notably  the  quarto  edition  of  Longfellow's  works,  had 
a  good  effect  on  the  development  of  the  art.  Anthony 
was  himself  an  engraver  of  ability  and  of  distinction  and 
elegance  in  style.  Other  engravers  at  this  time  were 
Marsh,  J.  P.  Davis,  Berlett,  Kilburn  &  Mallory,  Morse, 
Annin,  Hayes,  and  John  Andrew,  under  whose  "  careful 
superintendence  "  the  engravings  for  the  book  "  Pioneers 
in  the  Settlement  of  America  "  were  executed.  A  note- 
worthy stimulus  to  good  engraving  was  afforded  by  the 
publication  of  "  Picturesque  America  "  (Appleton:  1872- 
74),  which  stands  out  even  by  the  very  size  of  the  under- 
taking. In  those  two  profusely  illustrated  volumes,  op- 
portunity came  to  engravers  such  as  John  Tinkey,  Morse, 
Harley,  Filmer,  Halliwell,  J.  A.  Bogert,  Langridge, 
Karst,  N.  Orr,  J.  H.  Richardson,  Anthony,  Annin  (whose 


WOOD-ENGRAVING  151 

JValls  of  the  Grand  Cation,  after  Thomas  Moran,  is 
a  particularly  careful  and  fine  example),  F.  O.  Quartley, 
Slader,  Henry  Linton,  Measom,  Cranston,  Robert 
Hoskin,  Palmer,  Alfred  Harral,  and  W.  J.  Linton,  the 
last  eight  Englishmen,  some  of  whom,  at  least,  became 
acclimated  here.  They  reproduced  the  designs  of 
Thomas  Moran,  Harry  Fenn,  John  D.  Woodward  and 
other  able  draughtsmen.  The  "  calm  elegance  and  deli- 
cacy "  of  Hoskin,  who  was  not  carried  away  by  the 
*'  new  school,"  was  emphasized  by  S.  R.  Koehler. 

Among  the  artists  of  English  birth  W.  J.  Linton  was 
prominent.  His  work  has  a  certain  distinction  in  han- 
dling. It  is  "  firm  and  honest  "  (which  terms  he  himself 
uses  to  express  "  the  first  qualification  of  an  engraver  ") 
and  it  exemplifies  to  a  marked  degree  his  theory  that  the 
engraver  should  draw  with  the  graver.  It  illustrates  also 
his  devotion  to  the  expressiveness  of  the  line  and  its  pos- 
sibilities in  rendering  form,  texture,  substance  and  dis- 
tances. Those  qualities  he  found  disregarded  in  the  at- 
tention paid  to  color  and  tone,  which  attained  to  its  high- 
est development  in  the  "new  school."  Said  he:  "The 
art  of  engraving  is  discoverable,  even  by  the  uninitiated, 
in  the  intention  of  the  lines."  After  all  that  has  been 
said,  one  would  not  look  in  his  engravings  for  microscopic 
refinement  in  his  lines.  Yet,  in  spite  of  a  certain  direct 
vigor  and  boldness  ("  coarseness  "  he  designates  it),  his 
method  could  produce  such  an  interesting  effect  of  light 
and  tone  as  The  Mayflower  at  Sea  after  Granville  Per- 
kins. In  his  engravings  as  in  his  writings  he  exerted  a 
strong  plea  for  the  engraver  as  an  interpreting  artist,  yet 


152  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

his  own  vigorous  individuality  found  adaptating  changes 
of  expression  to  suit  the  personality  of  the  various  artists 
upon  whose  work  he  was  engaged. 

The  cuts  in  "  Picturesque  America  "  form  a  remarka- 
bly interesting  collection  of  well-engraved  landscapes. 
The  student  of  the  art  has  rich  opportunity  here  for  sug- 
gestive comparison  of  differences  in  treatment.  Koehler 
calls  the  book  an  epoch-making  work,  and  quotes  Linton 
as  saying  that  it  contains  the  best  landscapes  cut  in  Amer- 
ica; he  himself  adds  that  the  companion  work,  "Pic- 
turesque Europe"  (1875),  mainly  cut  in  England,  was 
on  the  whole  not  so  good  as  the  American  publication. 
The  "Art  Journal"  begun  by  the  Appletons  in  1875  is 
also  to  be  noted  here,  as  is  the  "  Aldine,  or  Art  Journal 
of  America  "  (begun  in  1871),  which  latter  included  cuts 
by  Davis  &  Spier,  and  early  work  by  Juengling  and  Cole. 

The  number  of  talented  and  adaptative  craftsmen,  not 
a  few  of  them  of  English  or  German  birth,  was  increas- 
ing. At  the  same  time  the  development  of  technique 
brought  about  a  tendency  to  greater  elaboration,  to  more 
careful  rendering  of  various  textures  and  of  color  values. 
And  this  was  strongly  influenced  by  the  alliance  between 
the  wood  block  and  the  camera.  Before  there  was  de- 
vised the  process  of  photographing  the  drawing,  painting 
or  object  to  be  reproduced  on  to  the  block,  the  drawing 
had  to  be  executed  directly  on  the  latter  with  pencil  or 
pen,  in  lines  that  had  to  be  cut  in  facsimile  by  the  en- 
graver. At  most,  there  were  added  washes  which  the 
engraver  had  to  render  in  lines.  But  now  the  original 
might  be  executed  in  any  medium  and  size;  pencil,  char- 


WOOD-ENGRAVING  153 

coal,  oils  or  water  color  might  be  used.  It  was  simply 
photographed,  reduced  in  size  when  necessary,  on  to  the 
wood  block,  and  the  engraver  then  fairly  translated  it 
into  his  own  language.  Furthermore,  he  did  not  destroy 
the  original  by  cutting  it  away  as  he  engraved  the  block, 
but  the  photograph  on  the  block  was  to  him  simply  a 
guide,  while  the  original  stood  before  him.  The  possi- 
bilities thus  opened  up  were  perceived  and  seized  upon 
to  a  greater  extent  here  than  anywhere  else,  and  there 
was  formed  a  distinctly  American  school  of  wood-en- 
graving, which  enjoyed  a  successful  and  lucrative  period 
of  brilliant  achievement.  The  wish  to  render  tones  and 
color  values  led  these  new  engravers  to  be  deeply  ab- 
sorbed in  the  imitation  of  textures,  to  the  extent  that 
even  the  brush-marks,  for  instance,  when  paintings  were 
copied,  were  faithfully  reproduced.  Henry  Marsh's  re- 
markably true  delineation  of  insects  (1862)  has  been 
referred  to.  In  some  blocks  after  drawings  by  John  La 
Farge  (e.g.,  for  "  Songs  of  the  old  Dramatists,"  Boston, 
1873,  or  those  illustrating  scenes  in  the  Arabian  Nights), 
done  with  a  solid  richness  of  effect,  he  proved  the  adapta- 
bility of  his  manner  and  hand,  and  of  the  art  that  he 
practised,  to  quite  different  problems.  Such  cuts,  and 
others  by  other  engravers,  in  a  measure  lead  the  way  to 
the  daring  effects  of  the  new  school.  In  Bogert's  Caught 
by  the  Snow  (which  appeared  in  "  St.  Nicholas  ")  after 
T.  Moran,  "  a  cut  full  of  refinement  and  delicacy,  without 
sacrifice  of  effect,"  there  may  be  seen,  for  example,  how 
long,  sweeping  lines,  effectively  crossed  in  white,  could 
be  made  to  indicate  whirling  snow. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  "  NEW  SCHOOL  "  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING 

With  the  wakening  of  new  aims,  of  new  ideals,  there 
came  changes  in  technique  to  meet  changing  demands. 
Broken,  short  lines,  scattered  in  whatever  direction  seemed 
best  fitted  to  reproduce  a  given  detail,  took  the  place 
of  the  more  regularly  cut  and  longer  sweeps  of  the  graver. 
The  work,  as  T.  D.  Sugden  puts  it,  was  "  more  or  less 
stippled  and  chopped  up  with  dots,  etc." 

It  has  been  contended  that  J.  G.  Smithwick's  engraving 
of  C.  S.  Reinhart's  Drumming  out  a  Tory,  in  "  Harper's 
Weekly"  for  February  3,  1877,  cut,  as  Koehler  says, 
"  spot  for  spot,"  was  the  first  published  application  of  the 
new  method.  Again,  Timothy  Cole  in  1906  wrote  James 
E.  Kelly  that  The  Gillie  Boy,  from  a  drawing  by  Kelly, 
was  the  first  thing  of  this  kind  which  he  engraved  and 
the  first  ever  done,  and  that  he  "  will  always  regret  .  .  . 
that  his  modesty  prevented  him  from  signing  it."  This 
appeared  in  *'  Scribner's  "  for  August,  1877.  ^^t,  at  all 
events,  the  illustrations  engraved  by  Frederick  Juengling 
(the  "  boldest  and  most  inconsiderate  experimenter  among 
the  pioneers  of  the  new  school,"  says  Koehler)  for  articles 
dealing  with  the  New  York  police  force,  the  New  York 
aquarium,  "  A  Railroad  in  the  Clouds,"  etc.,  appearing 
in  "  Scribner's  Monthly  "  for  1877,  made  the  first  obvious, 
continued  assertion  of  the  new  point  of  view.     The  draw- 

154 


-  2 

5  be 

>.  V 

=  § 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    155 

ings  for  these  Illustrations  were  executed  by  James  E. 
Kelly  (who  subsequently  turned  to  sculpture)  in  a  sweep- 
ing manner,  slapped  down  in  broad  brush-marks,  blocked 
in  with  a  disdain  of  finish  that  gave  them  the  effect  of 
results  gained  "  by  first  intention." 

Care  was  taken  to  reproduce  this  style  faithfully.  The 
cut  Engineer  crossing  the  chasm  over  the  Rimac  ("  Scrib- 
ner's,"  August,  1877,  p.  449)  was  the  second  one  exe- 
cuted after  Kelly's  drawing.  The  first  one  had  been  re- 
jected by  A.  W.  Drake  (art  director  of  the  magazine) 
and  Kelly  as  not  correctly  reproducing  the  design.  Study 
of  impressions  from  both  blocks,  in  the  New  York  Public 
Library,  shows  that  much  detail,  indeed,  was  missed  in  the 
first  attempt.  The  first  Kelly  illustration  that  has  come 
to  my  notice  appears  on  p.  581  of  "  Scribner's "  for 
March,  1877;  it  bears  no  engraver's  name,  and  is  com- 
paratively timid.  The  second,  on  page  585,  is  signed 
with  J.  G.  Smithwick's  initials.  But,  as  already  said,  it 
is  with  Juengling's  cuts  that  the  new  method  sets  in  with 
full  swing. 

In  this  series  of  Kelly- Juengling  cuts,  designer  and  en- 
graver absolutely  coincided;  here  was  the  opportunity  to 
state  the  newly  discovered  possibilities  of  the  boxwood 
and  graver  in  straightforward,  unmistakable  terms.  One 
can  well  imagine  that  these  prints  came  as  a  shrill  trumpet 
blast  to  gather  adherents  to  the  banner  of  the  new  dis- 
pensation. It  seems  as  if  artists,  engravers,  art  editors 
and  the  public  were  fairly  caught  in  the  whirl  of  this 
new-found  power,  in  the  intoxication  of  this  delight  in 
astonishing  achievement.     One  strong  voice  was  raised  in 


156  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

warning,  that  of  W.  J.  Linton.  He  laid  down  his  prin- 
ciples in  an  article  on  "  Art  in  Engraving  on  Wood,"  which 
appeared  in  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly,"  and  for  which  he 
was  denounced  with  some  acrimony.  (There  exists  a 
manuscript  reply  by  Juengling,  never  published. )  Oppo- 
sition drew  from  his  pen  a  little  volume  entitled  "  Some 
practical  Hints  on  Wood-Engraving  for  the  Instruction 
of  Reviewers  and  the  Public"  (Boston,  1879).     Finally 

y  he  issued  his  "  History  of  Wood-Engraving  in  America  " 
(1882).     The  critical  and  historical  account  of  the  devel- 

y' opment  of  the  art,  particularly  during  1840-70,  will  al- 
ways make  this  an  indispensable  book  of  reference.  The 
portion  relating  to  the  work  of  the  "  new  school "  is  of 
interest  and  value  on  account  of  the  comments  on  the 
numerous  examples  given.  Linton,  while  evidently  striv- 
ing to  be  fair  (he  has  plenty  of  good  things  to  say,  finds 
much  to  praise),  protested  vehemently  against  an  undue 
and  slavish  devotion  to  textures  and  tones,  to  ultra-re- 
finement. He  found,  too  often,  the  essential  sacrificed  to 
the  unessential,  while  at  the  same  time  the  very  distinction 
of  substance  aimed  at  was  missed.  As  an  Instance,  among 
many,  he  pointed  out  Juengling's  remarkably  clever  Pro- 
fessor, after  Duveneck,  with  lip,  cheek,  eye,  hair,  coat  and 
background  "  all  of  the  same  wooden  texture."  As  a 
result,  says  he,  lines  of  demarcation  Indicated  by  differ- 
ences in  color  are  lost,  and  the  Professor's  cranium — the 
hair  having  faded  Into  the  background — appears  mis- 
shapen and  deeply  gashed.  He  deplored  so  much  real 
talent  In  all  this  new  work  misapplied,  "  spent  on  en- 
deavors to  rival  steel  line-engraving  or  etching,  In  follow- 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    157 

ing  brush-marks,  in  pretending  to  imitate  crayon  work, 
charcoal  or  hthography." 

It  was  the  tendency  to  render  substance  rather  than 
spirit,  to  imitate  brush-marks  rather  than  to  imitate  essen- 
tials, to  which  he  objected.  He  insisted  on  the  importance 
of  the  line,  and  of  "  drawing  with  the  graver."  That 
implied,  with  Linton,  despite  a  certain  flexibility  of  tech- 
nique, an  adherence  to  some  conventions,  a  translation 
into  the  language  of  the  engraver  rather  than  an  inter- 
pretation. 

On  the  other  hand,  Timothy  Cole  quite  recently,  speak- 
ing of  the  changes  brought  about  in  modern  wood-en- 
graving, says:  "At  last  it  became  apparent  that  the  old 
conventions  were  inadequate  and  that  they  had  to  go  by 
the  board.  The  line  had  to  be  tampered  with  in  order 
faithfully  to  render  the  qualities  characteristic  of  the 
artist's  painting.  In  other  words,  the  painting  came  to 
be  deemed  more  important  than  the  exploitation  of  the 
engraver's  skill  in  the  production  of  lines.  All  the  old 
conception  of  reproducing  textures — a  certain  sort  of  line 
for  this  and  another  sort  of  line  for  that — had  to  go." 
All  very  true,  yet  it  was  "  exploitation  of  the  engraver's 
skill "  which  called  forth  Linton's  severest  strictures.  It 
is  a  question  whether  Cole,  in  the  maturity  of  his  power, 
has  not  to  a  certain  extent  approached  Linton's  point  of 
view. 

As  to  photographing  on  the  block,  Linton  points  out 
that  it  was  done  in  the  London  "  Cornhill  "  days,  long 
before  the  advent  of  our  "  new  school."  And  when  met 
by  the  statement  that  "  the  freest  handling  is  not  attain- 


158  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

able  [by  the  designer]  on  the  limited  surface  of  a  block,'* 
he  asks :  "  Was  Holbein  cramped  when  he  drew  the  Day 
of  Judgment  on  a  block  three  inches  by  two?  "  and  con- 
cludes "  There  is  an  art  in  drawing  on  wood."  To  which 
one  may  add  the  graphic  testimony  of  Adolph  Menzel, 
who,  being  limited  to  twelve  square  centimetres  in  his 
illustrations  to  the  works  of  Frederick  the  Great,  drew 
an  introductory  vignette  representing  a  cupid  holding  a 
huge  compass,  with  the  legend  "  XII  centimetres !  Max- 
imum !  "  and  underneath  "  Hie   .    .    .   hie  salta." 

Linton  made  a  strong  plea  for  the  status  of  the  en- 
graver as  a  thinking  artist,  who  must  interpret  the  orginal 
in  his  own  language  and  way,  and  not  slavishly  imitate 
it  ad  absurdum.  When  the  engravers  are  "  drilled  into 
superfineness,"  says  he,  "  their  work  is  scarcely  distinguish- 
able. This  utter  subordination  of  the  engraver  destroys 
his  individuality.  Having  no  individuality  of  his  own, 
will  he  be  better  able  to  appreciate  the  individuality  (the 
real  personality,  I  do  not  say  only  the  outer  clothes)  of 
the  painter?  " 

The  battle  was  fought  and  is  long  over;  many  of  the 
actors  in  it  are  dead,  most  of  those  living  have  turned 
to  other  fields  of  activity.  We  to-day  will  probably  agree 
that  there  was  at  least  some  basis  of  common  sense  and 
of  esthetic  reason  in  Linton's  strictures,  to  which  Jueng- 
ling  wrote  a  reply,  never  published,  but  preserved. 

The  late  Sylvester  Rosa  Koehler  summed  up  the  matter 
in  sane  language  in  his  German  monograph  on  wood-en- 
graving, already  referred  to.  American  wood-engraving, 
he  wrote,  began  to  go  its  own  way;  the  evolution  was 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    159 

"justified,  indeed  necessary."  He  continues:  "Linton 
bases  on  the  erroneous  assumption  that  wood-engraving 
through  its  material  and  its  tools  is  irrevocably  confined 
within  the  hmits  of  what  has  already  been  accomplished," 
while,  in  fact,  "  wood-engraving  must  adjust  itself  to  the 
character  of  contemporary  art."  And  that  contemporary 
art,  that  new  movement  of  the  seventies,  he  points  out, 
was  under  the  influence  of  France,  of  the  "  reign  of  tech- 
nique and  color,"  and  in  its  turn  naturally  influenced  wood- 
engraving  and  illustration,  so  that  the  purely  technical 
side,  "  the  how  rather  than  the  what,"  becr.me  predomi- 
nant. The  delicate  pencil  drawing  had  already  given  way 
to  a  great  extent  to  wash  drawings  on  the  block,  and  now 
came  large  paintings,  photographed  in  reduced  form  on 
the  block.  "  Here,  then,  the  wood-engraver  was  con- 
fronted by  a  new  problem : — he  was  no  longer  to  draw, 
he  was  to  paint!  "  Much  silly  and  ugly  work  resulted. 
"  The  boldness  of  the  manner  degenerated  into  coarse- 
ness; emancipation  from  abandoned  academic  rules  seemed 
best  proven  by  impudently  violating  all  laws  of  nature 
and  art,  and  particularly  all  demands  of  beauty."  Gra- 
dations of  tone  and  color,  textures,  the  quality  of  pulsating 
air,  all  the  things  which  the  painter  rendered  through 
differences  in  handhng  of  the  brush,  the  superposition  of 
layers  of  color,  had  to  be  translated  by  the  engraver  with 
his  one  instrument,  the  burin.  Koehler  cites  particularly 
a  cut,  in  the  "  Art  Journal  "  for  1880,  after  a  color  sketch 
by  Gaugengigl,  simply  an  attempt  at  harmonizing  certain 
colors,  form  being  neglected.  But  he  cites  also  Jueng- 
ling's  reproduction  of  Monticelli  as  "  a  veritable  triumph 


i6o  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

of  wood-engraving."  The  imitative  spirit  went  so  far 
as  the  indication  of  the  grain  of  the  paper  in  white  spots 
in  water  colors.  "  In  the  one-sided  striving  for  tonality 
.  .  .  the  textures  of  the  materials  represented  are  but 
too  often  entirely  overlooked." 

Koehler's  conclusion  is  that  all  these  efforts  eventually 
bore  good  fruit.  The  final  impression  that  he  gives  is 
that  in  the  belief  in  certain  underlying  eternal  laws  of 
fitness  and  beauty,  and  of  the  necessary  integrity  of  the 
line,  he  and  Linton  are  after  all  on  common  ground. 
Linton  ends  his  "  History  "  by  saying  of  the  men  of  the 
"  new  school  " :  "  Notwithstanding  all  my  censures,  the 
revival  of  wood-engraving  is  in  their  hands.  They  will 
outgrow  their  mistakes." 

When  all  is  said,  the  fact  remains  that  the  "  new 
school "  did  its  work  and  did  it  well.  After  we  have 
eliminated  what  was  ill-advised  or  prompted  by  an  over- 
weening confidence,  a  somewhat  one-sided  devotion  to 
one  principle,  so  very  much  remains  that  we  can  continue 
to  feel  great  and  justified  pride  in  the  results  of  the 
movement.  It  left  the  mark  of  its  achievement  indelibly 
inscribed  in  the  annals  of  wood-engraving  of  all  time. 
Not  a  few  of  the  engravers  identified  with  this  "  new 
school  "  were  of  foreign  birth  and  early  foreign  train- 
ing, but  the  traditional  assimilativeness  of  Uncle  Sam  was 
exemplified  here,  too.  Their  talents  were  enlisted  by  an 
impetus  born  of  American  soil,  or  at  all  events  carried 
to  its  highest  development  here,  and  it  was  adapted  in  its 
expression  to  meet  the  needs  engendered  by  that  impulse. 
It  is  an  honorable  list  that  can  be  given  here,  a  list  of 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    i6i 

engravers  including  many  whom  we  can  class  as  Americans 
without  any  reference  to  foreign  origin  other  than  is  made 
by  the  form  of  name. 

Frederick  Juengling  was  "  a  bold,  undaunted  experi- 
menter, an  enthusiast,"  of  whom  S,  R.  Koehler  wrote  a 
"  Memoir,"  1890.  Frank  Juengling's  block  after  Whist- 
ler's dry-point  of  Riault,  the  engraver,  showed  what  the 
imitative  care  of  the  "  new  school "  could  accomplish  in 
straight  line  facsimile  work.  John  G.  Smithwick  was 
for  some  time  in  partnership  with  Frank  French,  among 
whose  works  was  a  volume  of  "  Home  Fairies  and  Heart 
Flowers  "  (1886),  heads  of  children  from  his  own  draw- 
ings, with  text  by  Miss  Sangster.  Richard  Alexander 
Miiller's  ability  was  well  exemplified  in  On  the  old  Sod, 
from  the  painting  by  William  Magrath.  And  there  were 
furthermore  S.  S.  Kilburn,  William  H.  Morse,  E.  Schla- 
ditz,  H.  W.  Peckwell,  Richard  George  Tietze,  William 
Miller,  W.  M.  Aikman,  S.  G.  Putnam,  J.  W.  Evans, 
F.  H.  Wellington,  F.  W.  Putnam,  Victor  Bernstrom,  E. 
H.  Del'Orme,  Van  Ness,  J.  H.  E.  Whitney,  M.  Haider 
and  Miss  Caroline  Powell.  All  craftsmen  with  whom 
technical  ability  and  artistic  feeling  produced  the  best 
results.  Miss  Powell,  like  Mrs.  Anna  Botsford  Com- 
stock  (devoted  particularly  to  natural  history  subjects), 
studied  at  the  engraving  school  for  women  at  Cooper 
Institute,  New  York  City.  This  school  was  established 
in  1859  and  continued  until  1890  or  '91,  being  managed 
successively  by  Robert  O'Brien  (1859-67),  Linton 
(1868-70),  Miss  Charlotte  B.  Cogswell  (1871-80)  and 
J.  P.  Davis  (1881— ). 


1 62  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Thomas  D.  Sugden,  an  old  engraver  who  learned 
his  art  with  T.  W.  Strong,  and  who  for  years  was  in 
charge  of  the  block  and  plate  department  of  the  Century 
Co.,  has  compiled  a  manuscript  volume,  "  Remarks  on 
Wood  Engraving,  by  One-o-them  "  (1904),  unconven- 
tional comments  accompanying  a  number  of  proofs.  An 
enthusiastic  devotee  of  the  art  he  practised  and  loves, 
he  points  out  such  characteristics  as  the  effective  manner 
in  which  the  lines  follow  the  swirl  of  the  waves  in  a 
cut  by  Tinkey  of  a  storm  on  a  coast,  the  "  soft  delicacy 
and  sunlight "  that  pervade  certain  work  by  Davis,  the 
method  of  using  perpendicular  lines  to  represent  water 
used  by  Juengling,  Chadwick  and  E.  Anderson,  for  in- 
stance, in  contrast  to  the  horizontally  lined  lilies  floating 
on  its  surface,  in  engravings  by  the  last  two.  Sugden  is 
responsible  also  for  a  droll  4-page  "  History  of  Wood 
Engraving  in  the  United  States  in  a  Nutshell,"  1903,^ 
set  up  and  printed  by  himself  in  only  four  or  five 
copies. 

Not  a  few  of  the  engravers  became  identified  with 
some  specialty  in  style  or  subject,  or  became  best  known 
through  some  particular  engraving.  Thomas  Johnson, 
who  excelled  in  portraits,  won  praise  for  "  calm  and 
appropriate  treatment "  and  "  effective  yet  mild  light 
effect."  Gustav  Kruell  long  devoted  himself  to  portrait- 
ure, producing  highly  creditable  work  such  as  the  vigor- 
ous head  of  Fletcher  Harper,  and  the  smaller  heads  in 
the  series  of  musicians  by  himself  and  Johnson  (1878). 
In  time  he  developed  a  style  of  strength  and  distinction, 
in  which  a  proper  appreciation  of  tried  convention  and 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    163 

tradition  is  modified  by  a  sane  adoption  and  adaptation 
of  new  methods.  His  large  portraits  of  Wendell  Phil- 
lips, W.  T.  Sherman,  Robert  E.  Lee,  Beethoven,  Darwin 
(with  small  "  side  whiskers  "),  Webster,  Hawthorne  and 
Lincoln  (clean-shaven)  gave  him  much  opportunity  for 
personal  expression  because  he  was  not  interpreting  an- 
other artist,  but  rendering  in  the  richness  of  his  burin- 
stroke  the  matter-of-fact  truthfulness  of  the  camera's 
point  of  view.  In  the  white-line  modeling  of  his  faces 
the  personalities  he  pictures  rise  out  of  the  impersonal 
reflection  of  the  photograph  into  a  fresh  and  most  lively 
characterization,  into  a  new  significance,  I  had  almost 
said. 

Frank  S.  King,  who  later  turned  to  engraving  on  cop- 
per, numbered  among  his  blocks  such  quite  different  un- 
dertakings as  a  series  after  Burne-Jones,  a  portrait  of 
Modjeska  after  Carolus  Duran,  The  Fog  after  F.  S. 
Church  and  finished  productions  akin  to  Marsh's  insects, 
for  instance  a  peacock's  feather  ("Harper's  Monthly," 
1878)  from  a  drawing  by  W.  H.  Gibson.  His  Lobster 
Pot  ("  Scribner's  Magazine  ")  won  strong  approval  from 
Linton  because  "  the  rock  and  the  water  are  really  dis- 
tinct substances,  and  the  lobsters  have  the  form  and 
texture  of  lobsters." 

W.  B.  Closson  apparently  delighted  and  certainly  ex- 
celled in  the  reproduction  of  hazy,  vaguely  defined  effects 
such  as  appear  in  the  lightness  and  delicacy  of  his  en- 
graving from  a  drawing  by  William  Rimmer  {Magda- 
len)^ with  its  effect  of  soft,  broken,  crayon  or  charcoal 
lines,  or  even  more  in  his  excellent  JVinifred  Dysart  after 


i64  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

George  Fuller,  cut  for  the  "  American  Art  Review." 
When,  later  on,  he  engraved  blocks  from  his  own  designs, 
this  preference  for  not  too  sharply  circumscribed  forms 
was  still  evident. 

Elbridge  Kingsley  gives  rise  to  similar  observation. 
He  was  particularly  happy  in  presenting  the  rich,  succu- 
lent foliage  of  Rousseau  or  Diaz,  or  the  joyous  hymn 
to  nature  that  Corot  sang,  or  D.  W.  Tryon's  dreams  of 
misty  evening.  In  like  manner  he  made  of  his  engrav- 
ings executed  from  nature,  transcripts  of  mood  rather 
then  of  cold  form,  visions  rather  than  views.  He  did 
fifteen  illustrations  "  engraved  directly  from  nature  "  for 
Whittier's  "  Poems  of  Nature." 

Ernst  Heinemann  successfully  reflected  the  airy,  trans- 
lucent manner  of  F.  S.  Church  in  that  picture  of  a  mermaid 
riding  on  a  horse  dimly  outlined  in  a  swirling  wave,  or 
in  Nymphe  des  Eaux  ("  L'Art,"  November,  1889).  But 
he  showed  also  command  of  entirely  different  manners  in 
the  Guitar  Player  of  Frans  Hals,  The  Studio  after  T. 
Ribot  (medal,  Buffalo  Exposition  of  1901),  or  his  best, 
the  Plantin  proof-readers.  Influenced  by  the  spirit 
of  the  new  school,  he  was  not  carried  away  by  its 
vagaries. 

John  P.  Davis,  though  one  of  the  older  men,  changed 
his  style  with  the  times,  and  produced  such  blocks  as 
the  Dartmouth  Moors  after  R.  Swain  Gifford,  in  which 
Linton,  while  criticising  on  technical  grounds,  finds  the 
tone  "  of  admirable  quality."  He,  a  link  between  the 
old  and  the  new,  was  the  last  secretary  of  the  Society  of 
American  Wood  Engravers, 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    165 

Cole  and  Wolf,  working  to-day  in  the  full  maturity 
of  their  powers,  have  developed  each  an  absolutely  dis- 
tinct style.  Theirs  is  a  manner  of  expression  born  of  a 
long  experience  which  engendered  a  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  technique,  placed  always  fully  at  the  service  of 
the  particular  artist  whose  spirit  was  being  drawn  from 
the  canvas  at  a  given  time.  That  is  the  essential,  the 
salient  feature  in  the  work  of  these  two  men,  the  regard 
for  the  personality  behind  the  canvas.  They  are  con- 
cerned not  so  much  with  that  delight  in  the  power  over 
tools  that  may  lead  to  a  camera-like  imitation  of  every 
brush-mark  or  sweep  of  the  palette-knife,  but  rather  in 
the  transposition,  into  the  language  of  the  burin,  of  what 
the  painter  has  said  with  brush  and  color.  In  the  case 
of  Cole,  who  was  called  to  "  Scribner's  Magazine  "  by 
its  art  editor,  A.  W.  Drake,  as  early  as  1875,  this  is  done 
with  a  simplicity  of  method  and  a  broad,  bold  directness 
of  expression  that  give  his  translations  a  personal  dis- 
tinction. They  bring  us  into  touch  with  the  thoughtful 
contemplativeness  that  grasps  and  enters  into  the  great 
principles  of  life  actuating  the  soul  that  have  found  voice 
in  the  technical  mastery  of  the  painting  before  it.  It  is 
that  which  constitutes  the  importance  of  his  series  after 
the  Italian,  Dutch,  English,  Spanish  and  French  masters, 
begun  in  1883  under  commission  from  the  Century  Co. 
One  can  well  understand  that  such  a  sympathetically  crit- 
ical temperament  should  be  attracted  by  the  art  of  other 
days,  which  he  has  illumined  also  in  written  comment. 
"  He  handles  his  tool,"  says  Miss  E.  L.  Cary,  "  as  a 
painter  handles  his  brush,  with  the  same  freedom  and 


1 66  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

dexterous  control,  and  the  same  variation  of  stroke  to 
meet  various  problems."  Cole  has  shown  manifold  re- 
sources, "  from  the  wildest  unbridledness  to  the  fault- 
lessly classical  line,"  as  Koehler  once  said.  But  his  art 
has  long  since  become  clarified  Into  the  permanent  ex- 
pression of  calm  and  serene  sureness  to-day  characteristic 
of  this  master. 

Where  Cole  impresses  us  as  a  thoughtful  Interpreter 
speaking  to  us  in  the  rich  tones  of  his  own  language,  in 
Wolf  we  find  suavity  and  raffinement  dominant.  Wolf, 
devoted  particularly  to  the  moderns,  brings  to  his  task 
sensitive  adaptativeness,  discriminating  understanding  and 
distinguished  skill.  These  have  served  to  disclose  or  re- 
call the  beauties  of  art  of  various  periods.  In  recent 
years  he  has  copied,  in  a  spirit  In  harmony  with  the  in- 
tentions of  the  artists,  a  Corot  for  Mr.  George  A.  Hearn; 
Jonghers's  portrait  of  W.  T.  Evans;  the  portrait  of  a 
girl  (Hispanic- American  Society)  and  Balthasar  Carlos 
(Metropolitan  Museum),  both  by  Velasquez;  Ver  Meer's 
Young  Woman  at  a  Window;  Whistler's  Miss  Alexander 
and  Manet's  Boy  with  a  Sword.  As  an  interpreter  of 
contemporary  American  figure  painting,  he  has  reflected 
the  best  spirit  of  that  art  in  terms  of  his  own  and  with 
sympathetic  appreciation.  That  is  evidenced  In  blocks 
after  J.  Alden  Weir,  Horatio  Walker,  J.  W.  Alexander, 
W.  M.  Chase,  E.  Tarbell.  James  G.  Huneker  said  of 
him :  "  He  has  attacked  all  schools,  all  styles,  from  Frans 
Hals  to  Homer  Martin,  from  interiors  by  Vermeer  to 
the  subtle  tonal  graduations  of  Whistler's  mother.  .  .  . 
The   line    ...    is   clean   and   significant.     He   has   the 


From  "Harper's  Magazine."     Copyrishl  1907,  by  Harper  A  Brothers 

Girl  and  Peonies 
After  Irving  R.  Wiles.     Wood-engraving  by  Henry  Wolf 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    167 

sense  of  tactile  values.  Vitality  there  is  .  .  .,  above 
all  virility  in  company  with  poetic  distinction." 

Honors  in  plenty  have  come  to  both  of  these  men. 
Cole  has  won  gold  medals  at  the  expositions  in  Chicago 
1892,  Paris  1900,  Buffalo  1901  and  St.  Louis  1904,  as 
well  as  other  distinctions.  Wolf  was  awarded  various 
medals  and  other  honors,  including  a  gold  medal  at  the 
Salon  of  1895  ^"d  silver  medals  at  Paris  (1900)  and 
Rouen  (1903). 

Most  of  the  engravers  of  the  *'  new  school  "  were  iden- 
tified with  the  "  Society  of  American  Wood  Engravers," 
which  issued  in  1882,  through  the  Harpers,  a  "Port- 
folio "  which  remains  a  noteworthy  monument  to  that 
period  of  brilliant  achievement.  There  are  preserved,  in 
New  York,  the  diplomas  which  the  Society  won  as  a 
body  at  the  International  Exhibition  of  Art  in  Berlin, 
1 89 1,  and  at  the  International  Exhibition  of  Graphic 
Arts,  Vienna,  1895.  (^^  1894  the  Society  again  ap- 
peared in  Berlin,  its  exhibit  at  the  Chicago  Exposition 
being  shown  in  the  National  Gallery  in  the  German  cap- 
ital.) Honors  came  also  to  individual  members  at  the 
Paris  Exposition  of  1889:  a  gold  medal  to  Kingsley, 
silver  medals  to  Closson  and  J.  P.  Davis,  bronze  medals 
to  W.  M.  Aikman  and  S.  G.  Putnam,  honorable  mention 
to  Kruell,  Wolf  and  Henry  Davidson,  as  is  set  down  in 
the  catalogue  of  the  "  Exhibition  of  the  Society  of  Amer- 
ican Wood-Engravers "  held  in  the  Boston  Museum, 
1890.  A  like  exhibition  was  held  at  the  Grolier  Club, 
New  York  City,  in  the  same  year. 

While  the  general  movement  exemplified  by  these  vari- 


i68  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

ous  individualities  was  given  a  sort  of  official  expression 
in  the  "  Portfolio  "  of  the  Society  of  American  Wood- 
Engravers,  already  referred  to,  there  was  also  other  col- 
lective presentation.  The  Scribners  brought  out  "  A 
Portfolio  of  Proof  Impressions  selected  from  Scribner's 
Monthly  and  Saint  Nicholas"  (1879),  102  plates;  a 
second  series  with  the  same  title  (1881),  50  plates;  and 
a  selection  from  both:  "Selected  Proofs  from  the  First 
and  Second  Portfolios  of  Illustrations  from  Scribner's 
Monthly  and  Saint  Nicholas"  (1881),  57  plates.  The 
first  series  Included  Cole's  Gillie  Boy,  which  has  been 
spoken  of,  as  well  as  his  engraving  of  Whistler's  Study 
in  White,  and  Linton's  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado 
after  T.  Moran.  Still  another  collection  of  proofs  was 
the  "Longfellow  Portfolio"  (1881)  of  seventy-five 
plates,  issued  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co. 

An  interesting  undertaking  was  also  the  edition  of 
Poe's  "Raven"  (1884)  with  Illustrations  by  Dore  cut 
on  wood  by  Americans:  Juengling,  Claudius,  Tietze,  W. 
Zimmermann,  Kruell,  French,  Bernstrom,  Hoskin,  R.  A. 
Miiller,  King,  G.  J.  Buechner,  R.  Staudenbaur  and  R. 
Schelllng.  Huneker  asserts  that  Dore's  French  engravers 
made  everything  of  his  work,  while  the  Americans  en- 
graved him  too  literally,  the  inference  being,  of  course, 
that  they  showed  up  his  weaknesses  instead  of  glossing 
them  over. 

It  is  a  matter  for  congratulation  that  there  are  various 
public  collections  of  the  productions  of  this  American 
school.  The  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  the  Con- 
gressional Library  at  Washington  and  the  New  York 


"NEW  SCHOOL"  OF  WOOD-ENGRAVING    169 

Public  Library  have  formed  particularly  large  and  fine 
general  collections,  and  there  are  others  on  the  walls  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  Orange,  N.  J., 
in  the  Newark  Public  Library  and  in  the  public  library 
of  Springfield,  Mass.  ("Aston  collection").  The  work 
of  certain  individual  artists  may  be  studied  in  collections 
of  noteworthy  fullness  in  certain  places.  Thus,  W.  T. 
Evans  has  presented  to  the  National  Gallery  at  Washing- 
ton a  set  of  proofs  of  Wolf's  engravings,  and  another 
may  be  seen  at  the  Lotos  Club  in  New  York  City.  In 
Mt.  Holyoke  College  there  is  a  collection  of  the  works 
of  Elbridge  Kingsley  (catalogue  by  M.  E.  Dwight, 
1901),  and  another  selection  is  in  the  print  room  of  the 
New  York  Library.  This  New  York  institution  has  also 
the  various  series  of  Cole's  "  Masters  "  in  selected  im- 
pressions, and  a  noteworthy  collection  of  nearly  five  hun- 
dred pieces  by  Juengling.  The  latter  includes  a  number 
of  interesting  proofs  of  small  sections  of  various  blocks, 
pulled  on  little  scraps  of  paper;  thus,  the  heads  of  John 
Brown  and  one  of  the  soldiers  and  various  hands,  feet 
and  other  portions  in  John  Brown  going  to  Execution, 
after  Thomas  Hovenden,  are  each  repeated  a  number  of 
times  on  bits  of  paper  an  inch  and  a  half  square,  or  less, 
showing  how  the  engraver  progressively  proved  various 
portions  of  his  block.  So,  too,  a  section  of  his  How  it 
happened  after  M.  A.  Woolf.  Henry  Wolf  once  told 
me  that,  as  far  as  he  knew,  Juengling  and  he  were  the 
only  ones  to  practise  this  method.  In  this  Jueng- 
ling collection  there  are  also  some  impressions  from 
metal    casts    of    engraved   wood    blocks,    which    casts 


lyo  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

were,  of  course,  intaglio  plates  like  etchings,  Instead  of 
relief  blocks. 

Adequate  records  of  the  achievements  of  this  Interest- 
ing and  brilliant  phase  of  American  art  are  thus  preserved 
in  various  places. 


CHAPTER  IX 
PAINTER-WOOD-ENGRAVING 

The  development  of  reproductive  wood-engraving 
which  the  United  States  witnessed  in  the  last  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  was  carried  to  what  was  appar- 
ently the  limit  of  its  possibilities  in  the  suggestion  of 
tones  and  textures.  The  glorious  period  of  success  was 
as  remarkable  in  its  product  as  it  was  short  in  duration. 
The  photo-mechanical  processes,  particularly  the  now 
ubiquitous  half-tone,  swept  all  before  them,  and  only  two 
noteworthy  members  of  the  group  of  men  who  made 
American  wood-engraving  famous — Cole  and  Wolf — are 
to-day  still  regularly  practising  the  art  as  a  reproductive 
process.  Heinemann,  Miller,  E.  H.  Del'Orme,  F.  H. 
Wellington,  Chadwick,  S.  G.  Putnam  and  others  entered 
the  service  of  the  photo-mechanical  processes  which  sup- 
planted wood-engraving,  and  added  to  the  plate  of  the 
half-tone  that  engraving  by  hand  which  emphasizes  light 
and  shade  and  corrects  the  dull  uniformity  of  the  screen. 
Frank  French  has  written  magazine  articles  illustrated  by 
engravings  by  himself  after  his  own  designs.  Thomas 
Johnson  executed  a  number  of  portraits  in  etching.  F.  S. 
King  and  Walter  Aikman  have  turned  to  copper-engrav- 
ing, notably  in  plates  done  for  the  Society  of  Iconophiles, 
portraits  of  American  notables  by  King  (whose  "  printer's 
devil "  plate  is  noted  among  collectors)   and  copies  of 

171 


172  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

old  New  York  views  by  Aikman.  Oscar  Grosch  turned 
for  a  while  to  the  engraving  of  his  own  designs  on  copper 
and  to  original  etching.  One  might  search  out  other 
like  instances  and  extend  the  list  of  those  who  are  exer- 
cising their  artistic  training  in  special  fields  other  than  that 
with  which  they  were  once  prominently  identified. 

A  general  resumption  of  the  art  of  wood-engraving 
as  a  means  of  reproducing  paintings  does  not  seem  prob- 
able. So,  at  all  events,  many  of  us  have  thought,  but 
more  recently  experiments  have  been  pointed  to  as  show- 
ing that  the  shallow  half-tone  plate  will  not  generally  give 
as  good  an  electrotype  as  will  the  wood  block  with  its 
possibilities  of  deeper  lines.  Furthermore,  the  block,  as 
William  Aspinwall  Bradley  points  out,  gives  clean-cut, 
sharply  defined  printing  surfaces,  instead  of  the  monoto- 
nous, uniform  mesh  of  the  half-tone  screen  which,  besides 
its  deadly  mechanical  effect,  is  apt  to  smudge  in  printing. 
It  is,  of  course,  this  same  mechanical  effect  and  the  ab- 
sence of  absolute  high  light  that  has  led  to  the  retouching 
of  half-tone  plates  before  turning  them  over  to  the  printer. 
Bradley,  when  art  editor  of  the  "  Delineator,"  put  his  idea 
to  the  test,  in  engravings  by  F.  H.  Wellington  (died 
191 1 )  and  others. 

The  decay  of  wood-engraving  has  been  deplored  in 
print  and  speech  not  a  few  times,  and  not  infrequently  in 
apparent  forgetfulness  of  the  fact  that  not  only  will  neces- 
sity insure  the  survival  of  that  which  fits  its  case,  but  in 
this  case  the  revival  is  already  with  us.  But  the  art  has 
arisen  in  a  new  form,  or  rather  there  is  a  renascence  of 
an  old  form.     We  may  or  may  not  believe  that  there  will 


PAINTER- WOOD-ENGRAVING  173 

ever  again  be  a  general  use  of  wood-engraving  for  the 
purpose  of  reproducing  paintings  or  drawings  or  photo- 
graphs. But  there  is  no  doubt  that  an  increasing  number 
of  artists  have  been  turning  to  the  wood  block,  as  they 
have  to  etching  or  lithography,  as  a  means  of  original, 
direct  expression.  Painter-wood-engraving  is  coming  to 
its  own. 

In  this  country,  the  desire  for  original  work  first  took 
the  form  of  engraving  direct  from  nature  by  some  of  the 
men  who  had  helped  to  bring  reproductive  wood-engrav- 
ing to  its  high  state  of  development.  The  original  work 
of  Kingsley,  who  has  printed  some  of  his  blocks  in  colors, 
and  of  Closson  has  already  been  spoken  of.  Others, 
likewise  long  known  as  discerning  interpreters  of  the  de- 
signs and  paintings  of  others, — the  late  Victor  Bernstrom, 
Henry  Wolf,  Frank  French, — have  felt  the  impulse  of 
original  creation  and  brought  to  its  service  their  long 
training  and  artistic  temperament.  Wolf  has  seen 
"  Lower  New  York  in  a  Mist "  and  shown  it  with  a 
delicacy,  a  "  silvery  tone,"  that  recalls  Whistler's  rhapsody 
concerning  the  fairyland  which  London  at  night  opened 
up  to  him.  Bernstrom  has  some  original  blocks  to  his 
credit, — landscapes.  Wm.  G.  Watt,  too,  has  recently  en- 
graved his  own  designs  on  the  wood.  In  the  result  of 
all  these  there  is  generally  completeness  of  effect,  the 
natural  outcome  of  the  engraver's  previous  activity.  The 
spaces  of  their  composition  are  filled  with  lines  to  indicate 
tone  or  local  color. 

In  the  hands  of  the  artists  who  are  not  professional 
wood-engravers,  but  who  turn  temporarily  to  wood  and 


174  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

graver  as  one  of  the  means  through  which  to  find  an 
outlet  for  what  they  see  and  feel,  the  medium  is  usually 
employed  in  a  somewhat  different  way,  although  its  char- 
acteristic nature  is  respected  and  understandingly  utilized. 
Here,  there  is  apt  to  be  indication  rather  than  fulfilment, 
decorative  effect  of  line  or  space  rather  than  insistence 
on  detail.  The  rendition  of  form  is  simplified.  Simple 
designs,  flat  tints  of  gray  or  black  or  color,  are  generally 
used.  Particularly  noticeable  are  a  reversion  to  the  line 
of  the  facsimile  engraving  (as  we  see  it  in  cuts  after 
Diirer,  for  instance),  with  occasionally  a  touch  of  archa- 
ism ;  and  the  influence  of  the  Japanese  chromo-xylograph, 
or  wood-engraving  in  color.  But  these  influences,  in  the 
work  which  is  worthy  of  serious  consideration,  appear 
in  assimilation,  not  in  imitation.  The  key-note  in  these 
prints  is  modernity;  they  are  of  to-day,  and  none 
the  less  original  because  based  on  experience  of  the 
past. 

A  number  of  European  artists  have  exemplified  the 
widely  varying  possibilities  of  individual  expression  in 
this  art  of  simple,  straightforward  and  yet  subtle  effects, 
and  it  is  a  cause  for  gratification  that  some  Americans 
have  likewise  begun  to  avail  themselves  of  its  resources. 
Even  a  cursory  examination  of  all  this  work  will  show 
how  responsive  this  art  can  be  to  the  personal  touch. 
Yet  all  this  display  of  variety  in  conception,  treatment 
and  result  is  based  primarily  on  an  understanding  of  the 
peculiar  nature  of  the  tools  used,  on  a  recognition  of 
both  the  range  and  the  limits  of  their  inherent  potentiality. 
To  know  how  to  produce  effects  without  torturing  the 


PAINTER-WOOD-ENGRAVING  175 

instrument  beyond  its  proper  functions  is  as  necessary  in 
art,  as  it  is  in  literature  to  produce  word-pictures  without 
straining  the  language. 

The  few  American  artists  who  have  heeded  the  appeal 
of  the  wood  block  have  tested  its  possibilities  in  quite 
varied  styles  and  moods.  And  the  result  is  most  satis- 
factory where  the  artist  does  not  lose  his  better  self  in 
the  pursuit  of  the  close  imitation  of  other  models,  where 
foreign  influences  are  absorbed  in  a  healthy  manner  while 
the  artist's  own  personality  predominates.  This  is  ap- 
parent, for  instance,  in  the  works  of  Arthur  W.  Dow, 
among  them  the  Ipswich  Prints,  which  he  himself  calls 
"  simple  color  themes,"  of  which  an  exhibition  was  held 
at  the  Boston  Museum  in  1895.  In  them  the  principles 
of  color-printing  from  wood  blocks  are  well  illustrated. 
The  late  Ernest  F.  FenoUosa,  writing  of  Dow's  experi- 
ments in  printing  pictures  in  a  few  flat  tints,  emphasized 
the  characteristics  of  the  process,  its  limits,  its  salient 
features,  the  delicacy  which  lies  in  its  very  simplicity. 
*'  The  artist,"  said  he,  "  is  as  free  with  his  blocks  as  the 
painter  with  his  palette.  .  .  .  Pigment  washed  upon 
the  wood,  and  allowed  to  press  the  sheet  with  a  touch 
as  delicate  as  a  hand's  caress,  clings  shyly  only  to  the 
outer  fibers,  .  .  .  leaving  the  deep  wells  of  light  in 
the  valleys,  the  whiteness  of  the  paper's  inner  heart,  to 
glow  up  through  it  and  dilute  its  solid  color  with  a 
medium  of  pure  luminosity."  And  farther:  "This 
method  .  .  .  strengthens  the  artist's  constructive  sense 
in  that  it  forces  him  to  deal  with  simple  factors.  It 
stimulates    the    faculty   of   design.    .    .    .      Mr.    Dow's 


176  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

application  of  it  to  Western  expression  and  use  remains 
an  epoch-making  event." 

It  is  this  Western  expression  which  forms  the  interest 
of  these  prints,  the  independent  adaptation  of  the  Japa- 
nese technique  for  the  presentation  of  a  point  of  view 
which  carries  no  hint  of  mere  imitation,  but  is  the  outcome 
of  personal  conviction.  The  Japanese  manner  is  very 
much  more  insisted  upon  in  the  case  of  Miss  Helen  Hyde, 
who,  furthermore,  has  lived  in  Japan  and  chooses  Japa- 
nese subjects.  She  has  presented  some  delicate  and  sub- 
dued color  harmonies,  such  as  we  see  them  in  old  Japanese 
prints  as  they  appear  to-day,  with  the  colors  toned  down 
by  time  or  exposure.  Yet  with  all  this  there  is  in  her 
pictures  an  element  of  Occidental  observation.  To  a 
Tapanese.  indeed,  her  yvnrlc  may  sppm  gf-r^ng^^_j^^tp  *^^f 
fact  that  we  are  told  that  she  won  a  prize  in  Tokio  in 
competition  with  native  artists.  The  Japanese  form  is 
there,  rather  than  the  spirit.  The  gesture  is  Japanese, 
the  language  is  English.  And  it  is  well  that  Miss  Hyde, 
despite  her  Japanese  robes,  does  speak  her  mother  tongue 
— though  with  an  accent.  While  Miss  Hyde  is  attracted 
by  figure-subjects  and  flat  tints,  B.  J.  Olssen-Nordfeldt 
was  evidently  influenced  by  the  landscapes  of  Hokusai  and 
Hiroshige,  and  insists  somewhat  more  obviously  on  the 
line.  And  in  the  latter  he  seems  to  see  picturesque  rather 
than  decorative  possibilities, — foamy  wave  tops  circum- 
scribed into  rigidity  by  curly  lines  which  yet  in  themselves 
have  the  restlessness  of  irregular  rhythms.  He  gets  away 
farther  than  Miss  Hyde  from  the  land  of  Fuji  Yama, 
despite  the  still  evident  influence  of  its  art. 


PAINTER- WOOD-ENGRAVING  177 

An  entirely  different  point  of  view  is  evidenced  in 
the  work  of  Howard  McCormick,  rugged,  yet  aiming  in 
its  way  at  full  pictorial  effect,  covering  the  surface  of 
the  block  with  lines.  Still,  his  is  not  the  manner  of  the 
professional  wood-engraver,  and  not  suited  to  microscop- 
ical examination  any  more  than  the  impressionistic  can- 
vases of  Monet  or  Pissarro  or  Sisley.  It  is  a  method 
well  adapted  in  its  vigor  to  his  reproduction  of  the  bust 
of  Lincoln  in  which  that  homely,  honest  character  has 
been  pictured  by  the  virile  directness  of  Gutzon  Borglum. 
Usually,  however,  he  engraves  after  his  own  designs,  as 
in  some  magazine  covers,  or  in  his  series  of  Mexican  sub- 
jects. In  these  latter  he  handles  the  graver  (burin)  with 
the  sweep  of  the  brush,  using  legitimate  burin  methods, 
but  applying  them  with  a  free,  flickering  touch  which  gives 
a  noteworthy  impression  of  life  and  action  and  pulsating 
tone. 

Where  McCormick  fairly  hews  out  his  way  in  a  dis- 
tinct style  of  his  own,  A.  Allen  Lewis  shows  a  touch  of 
frank  archaism,  joined,  however,  to  an  equally  honest 
individuahty  of  expression.  His  frequent  use  of  tints  of 
color,  flat,  but  with  the  mottling  of  delicate  variations 
produced  by  the  texture  of  the  wood,  is  reminiscent  of  the 
old  "  chiaroscuro  "  engravings.  It  is  merely  a  matter  of 
method,  however;  the  work  is  essentially  of  to-day.  Rud. 
Ruzicka  fairly  bathes  his  black  line  designs,  executed  with 
both  vigor  and  lightness,  in  a  light-brown  tint  relieved 
by  white  lights.  The  effect  invests  his  metropolitan 
scenes,  be  it  a  skyscraper  or  A  hit  of  old  New  York, 
with  a  delightful  appeal  to  the  imagination,  personal  in  its 


178  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

presentation.  W.  F.  Hopson,  like  Lewis,  has  been  par- 
ticularly identified  with  the  art  of  the  book-plate,  as 
have  also  Hugh  M.  Eaton  and  George  Wolfe  Plank,  of 
Philadelphia,  chief  inspirer  of  the  short-lived  "  Butter- 
fly "  quarterly. 

In  contrast  to  this  art  of  the  small  there  is  the  opposite, 
as  to  size,  in  the  field  of  the  print,  the  poster.  It  was 
once,  before  the  more  ambitious  efforts  of  lithography, 
wholly  the  province  of  the  wood-cutter,  though  a  product, 
then,  of  rough-and-ready  effects.  The  materials  used 
may  have  seemed  unpromising:  wood-carver's  tools 
ground  down  to  the  length  of  a  boxwood-graver,  the 
blade  being  grooved  to  prevent  splitting  in  the  wood,  and 
very  soft  basswood,  quite  free  from  knots.  Yet  James 
Britton  employed  them  with  bold  and  broad  effect  in  sev- 
eral vigorously  drawn  posters  for  the  Connecticut  League 
of  Art  Students,  for  a  studio  concert,  etc.  They  bring 
us  back  to  the  old  truth,  that  the  artist  who  really  has 
something  to  say  will  find  his  own  way  of  saying  it,  and 
will  win  the  medium  to  his  style. 

All  this  is  not  so  very  much,  quantitatively.  Its  sig- 
nificance lies  in  the  effort  to  use  this  oldest  of  the  repro- 
ductive media  as  a  painter-art.  Yet  it  is  simply  one  of 
the  forms  of  graphic  art  which  offer  by-paths  for  incur- 
sions which  are  not  undertaken  too  often  by  American 
artists.  The  present  gratifying  revival  of  painter-etching 
in  the  United  States  is  expressed  almost  entirely  in  the 
activity  of  those  who  make  a  specialty  of  etching;  the 
painter  who  etches  occasionally  is  rare  indeed.  Lithog- 
raphy is  almost  entirely  neglected.    Abroad — in  France, 


PAINTER-WOOD-ENGRAVING 


179 


England,  Germany  and  Austria — one  finds  much  more 
active  utilization  of  such  possibilities  on  the  part  of  artists, 
who  turn  from  canvas  or  modeling  clay  to  the  etching 
plate,  the  lithographic  stone,  or  the  wood  block  (not  to 
speak  of  forms  of  applied  art  such  as  interior  decoration 
or  the  designing  of  furniture — or  advertisements).  They 
bring  the  personal  note  which  forms  the  value  and  attrac- 
tion of  such  efforts  to  present  the  objects  of  vision  In 
various  artistic  forms.  Such  occasional  changes  of  activ- 
ity must  provide  a  veritable  safety-valve,  an  opportunity 
for  the  "  other  view,"  a  chance  of  escape  from  the  "  usual 
thing  "  wh«i  that  threatens  to  become  too  much  a  matter 
of  manner,  a  road  of  return  to  the  artist's  own  self. 


CHAPTER  X 
LITHOGRAPHY:  A  BUSINESS,  AN  ART 

It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  lithography  should 
find  its  greatest  development  here  through  its  commercial 
possibilities.  The  record  of  accomplishment  in  strictly 
original  lithography  is  not  extensive,  while  commercial 
lithography  attained  to  a  noteworthy  degree  of  excel- 
lence. Nevertheless,  the  first  attempts  in  the  art,  which 
had  already  been  taken  up  enthusiastically  by  artists  in 
Germany  and  France,  were  made  here,  too  (in  1819-20), 
by  a  painter,  Bass  Otis.  His  two  little  drawings  have 
little  to  recommend  them  but  the  interest  of  priority. 
They  gave  no  hint  of  the  possibilities  exploited  even  at 
that  time  by  Senefelder,  Winter,  Girodet-Trioson, 
Vernet,  Guerin,  Gros  and  others  abroad.  Our  distin- 
guished countryman  in  England,  Benjamin  West,  had 
tried  both  crayon  and  pen  on  the  stone  as  early  as  1801 
{John  the  Baptist  and  He  is  not  here)  and  1802  {This 
is  my  beloved  Son),  and  his  son  Raphael  signed  a  study 
of  an  old  tree  in  1802.  But  over  here  we  had,  appar- 
ently, not  been  in  a  hurry  to  test  the  newly-discovered 
medium.  Yet  Dr.  S.  L.  Mitchell,  according  to  the  "  Na- 
tional Intelligencer"  of  Jan.  8,  1808,  had  a  lithographic 
stone  and  ink  in  his  possession  at  that  time. 

However,  after  Otis's  unassuming  attempts,  the  facility 
of  this  new  reproductive  process  evidently  aroused  some 

180 


The  two  earliest  known  lithographs  produced  in  the  United  States. 
Both  by  Bass  Otis. 


LITHOGRAPHY  i8i 

interest.  At  all  events,  hardly  seven  years  after  Otis's 
essays  appeared,  Rembrandt  Peale  was  awarded  the 
silver  medal  of  the  Franklin  Institute  for  his  copy,  on 
stone,  of  his  own  portrait  of  Washington.  And  we  need 
not  cite  local  pride  or  a  backward  state  of  art  in  this 
country  as  an  explanation  of  the  award.  Peale  really,  in 
this  work,  showed  an  understanding  of  the  possibilities 
of  the  stone  which  is  worthy  of  note,  and  which,  by  the 
way,  is  not  so  apparent  in  other  lithographs  from  his 
hand, — the  larger  head  of  Washington,  and  the  smaller 
portraits  of  John  Warren,  M.D.,  Rev.  John  E.  Abbott, 
etc.  "  I  was  among  the  first  of  the  artists,"  said  he, 
"  who  employed  this  admirable  method  of  multiplying 
drawings.  .  .  .  In  1826  I  went  to  Boston  and  devoted 
myself  for  some  time  to  lithographic  studies,  and  exe- 
cuted a  number  of  portraits  and  other  subjects,  and 
finally  a  large  drawing  of  my  portrait  of  Washington." 
His  first  lithograph  was  a  portrait  of  Byron,  done,  like 
others  of  his  drawings,  for  Pendleton. 

However,  painter-lithography,  as  an  autographic  art 
practised  by  the  artist  similarly  to  etching,  could  not, 
from  the  nature  of  things,  find  much  expression  in  a  land 
in  which  the  conditions  of  social  and  political  develop- 
ment left  little  time  for  the  cultivation  of  art  for  its  own 
sake.  Still,  the  artistic  interest  was  not  entirely  wanting, 
even  in  commercial  work,  when  men  such  as  Henry  Inman 
(who  formed  a  partnership  with  C.  G.  Childs),  Thomas 
Sully,  Rembrandt  Peale,  and  Thomas  Doughty  were 
taking  part  in  the  development  of  the  new  process.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  artistic  lithography  and  the  commercial 


i82  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

product  cannot  always  be  separated  in  the  work  of  these 
early  days.  Much  of  it  was  signed,  thus  representing 
distinct  personalities,  instead  of  bearing  only  the  trade- 
mark of  a  firm  name.  But  one  finds  also  the  signatures 
of  geniuses  deservedly  unknown. 

The  commercial  importance  of  the  new  reproductive 
process  was  evident  from  the  beginning.  As  early  as 
1825  John  Pendleton  was  engaged  in  the  business  of 
lithographic  printing  in  Boston,  and  Anthony  Imbert  in 
New  York,  and  it  was  not  long  before  firms  sprang  up 
in  Philadelphia  and  other  cities.  Much  of  the  work  pro- 
duced was  poor. 

Maverick,  the  New  York  engraver,  busied  himself  also 
with  lithography,  one  of  his  works  being  Daughter  of 
Charles  B.  Calmody  (1829)  after  Lawrence.  Among 
the  prints  he  issued  is  a  view  of  Wall  Street,  New  York 
City,  the  rarity  and  interest  of  which  is  in  inverse  propor- 
tion to  its  artistic  value.  It  is  signed  H.  R.,  which  letters 
presumably  stand  for  Hugh  Relnagle,  who  signed  in  full 
a  view  of  St.  Paul's,  in  the  same  city,  printed  by  Pen- 
dleton. 

In  Philadelphia,  Cephas  G.  Chllds  similarly  practised 
lithography  as  well  as  copper-engraving.  He  became  as- 
sociated in  1 83 1  with  Henry  Inman,  a  versatile  painter, 
with  facility  and  a  certain  swing  in  his  crayon  drawings 
on  stone.  These  include  portraits,  a  view  of  Mount 
Vernon  In  which  the  branches  of  trees  outline  a  spectral 
Washington,  and  the  particularly  well  done  Scraps 
(1831).  Of  the  last,  the  figure  of  a  little  nude  boy  on 
a  stone,  a  graceful  and  delicate  bit  of  crayon  work,  Is 


LITHOGRAPHY  183 

especially  noteworthy.  Thomas  Sully's  portrait  of  R. 
Walsh  jun. — C.  G.  Childs  dir. — was  also  quite  well  exe- 
cuted. 

The  services  of  other  artists  were  enlisted  in  the  cause 
of  the  "  grease  crayon."  Such  were  four  who  occasion- 
ally drew  for  Imbert:  Archibald  Robertson  {Grand 
Canal  Celebration,  1825),  A.  J.  Davis  the  architect 
(whose  New  York  City  views  are  well  known  to  col- 
lectors), George  Catlin  the  Indian  painter,  and  David 
Claypoole  Johnston  (whose  work  is  characterized  by  the 
colorless  uniform  gray  of  his  portrait  of  Webster,  after 
Chester  Harding,  1831).  Another  artist  who  drew  at 
least  one  view  {Niagara  Falls)  for  Imbert  was  G.  Mar- 
siglia,  N.A.  Still  other  painters  gave  some  attention  to 
lithography,  but  not  much  of  their  work  calls  for  special 
commendation.  This  may  be  due  to  a  defective  knowl- 
edge of  drawing,  or  to  insufficient  study  of  the  technique 
of  lithography,  or  both.  At  all  events,  Lambdin's  por- 
trait of  Robert  Owen  has  a  decidedly  amateurish  aspect, 
and  the  Tomb  of  Washington,  at  Mount  Vernon,  by  the 
landscape  painter  Thomas  Doughty,  done  from  a  draw- 
ing made  on  the  spot  by  J.  R.  Smith,  and  printed  in  1832 
by  Childs  and  Inman,  is  not  prominently  good.  Doughty, 
by  the  way,  did  from  nature  and  on  stone  some  fairly  ac- 
ceptable animal  studies  {Summer  Duck  and  Newfound- 
land Dog)  for  Childs  and  Inman,  as  did  J.  G.  Clonney, 
the  genre  painter,  somewhat  later,  for  Mesier.  Thomas 
Cole  also  made  attempts  on  the  stone,  notably  The  Good 
Shepherd,  with  a  delicate  background  of  trees  and  clouds, 
published  in  1849  with  the  inscription  to  the  artists  of 


i84  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

America  this  print  is  respectfully  dedicated  by  Maria 
Cole,  1842,  and  printed  in  tints  by  Sarony  &  Major. 
Finally,  John  William  Hill,  one  of  the  American  circle  of 
Pre-Raphaelites,  signed  Hackett's  Town  (1845)  ^^^ 
Rockland  Lake,  both  drawn  on  the  stone  for  Endicott 
&Co. 

Meanwhile  there  was  an  increase  in  professional 
lithographic  artists,  men  who  devoted  their  energies  more 
continuously  to  this  specialty.  They,  too,  often  signed 
their  work,  thus  in  a  measure  accenting  the  dignity  of 
the  artist  in  contrast  with  the  lithographic  firm  name, 
although  often,  indeed,  there  was  little  to  dignify  by  the 
name  of  art.  Thomas  Edwards,  of  Boston,  was  one  of 
the  first  to  draw  in  the  crayon  manner,  and  in  portraits 
such  as  the  one  of  James  Tilton,  M.D.,  the  hesitation,  the 
want  of  familiarity  with  the  new  medium  is  quite  ap- 
parent. His  Jacob  Perkins  (1826,  printed  by  Pendleton) 
is  already  more  free  in  execution.  F.  Alexander,  Wil- 
liam Hoogland  and  J.  R.  Pennimann  were  other  Boston 
artists,  and  the  garrulous  William  Dunlap  commends  the 
work  of  John  Bisbee  and  John  Crawley  Junior,  who 
were  employed  by  Endicott  and  Swett.  I  have  seen  no 
prints  signed  by  either  Bisbee  or  Crawley.  A  picture  of 
Washington  Hotel,  Broadway,  New  York  (1833)  was 
drawn  from  nature  and  on  stone  by  Moses  Sweett,  while 
the  name  is  properly  spelled  on  other  prints,  such  as  those 
in  the  "American  Turf  Register"  (volume  i,  1830), 
or  the  Irving  .  .  .  addressing  his  Countrymen  after  an 
Absence  of  //  years.  Other  names  met  with  are  R. 
Cooke,    J.    M.    Roberts    and    Charles    Toppan    under 


Washington 
Lithograph  by  Rembrandt  Peale 


LITHOGRAPHY  185 

some  Imbert  prints,  W.  Ball,  W.  Kelly,  P.  Hoas,  E. 
Jones,  according  to  my  notes,  which  characterize  their 
work  as  "  poor."  The  interest  in  all  this  is  antiquarian, 
rather  than  artistic.  There  were  furthermore  J.  H. 
Colon  (Inauguration  of  Washington,  about  1830),  A. 
Hoffy  (Tompkins  Blues  of  New  York,  City  Troop  of 
Philadelphia,  colored  plates  by  P.  S.  Duval,  1839)  and 
R.  J.  Rayner  (Portrait  of  Washington  after  Stuart). 
G.  Lehman,  like  Hubard  (portrait  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
1833),  lithographed  for  Childs  &  Inman;  I  have  seen  a 
flamingo  drawn  by  him  from  nature,  of  a  noteworthy 
delicacy,  as  well  as  a  lithotint  in  colors.  The  Pirates'  Well. 
In  the  thirties  some  of  Pendleton's  prints  were  signed 
by  J.  H.  Bufford,  who  later  was  in  business  for  himself. 
His  drawing  of  Inman's  portrait  of  Wirt  (Pendleton)  is 
the  best  by  him  that  I  have  seen. 

Signatures  increase  as  we  go  on  in  chronological  se- 
quence: Bouvier,  Penniman  (1844),  C.  W.  Burton 
(panoramic  view  of  New  York,  1849).  ^'  J-  Fritsch's 
pretentious  pictures  of  the  j^/fe  Regiment,  Jefferson 
Guards  (1843)  3.nd  the  First  Division  (1844)  both  por- 
tray New  York  State  Artillery  organizations  with  the 
impartial  inclusiveness  that  Banning  Cock's  company  felt 
should  have  been  accorded  them  in  Rembrandt's  famous 
"  Night  Watch."  The  interest  in  these  two  colored 
prints  lies,  however,  in  the  fact  that  the  first  shows  the 
City  Hall  and  the  second  Castle  Garden,  and  for  that 
reason  they  were  included  in  the  exhibition  of  rare  and 
important  views  of  New  York  held  in  that  city's  library 
in  19 1 2.     Charles  Gildemeister  signed  a  View  of  the 


i86  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Narrows  and  a  View  of  the  Hudson  River  from  Fort 
Lee,  both  published  by  Seitz  in  1851 ;  G.  W.  Fasel  drew 
Heroic  Deeds  of  former  Times,  six  scenes  in  Indian  war- 
fare (Seitz:  1 851),  and  Bachmann  a  view  of  New  York 
City.  Gustavus  Pfau  and  Hardtmuth,  who  both  did  por- 
traits for  Nagel  &  Weingartner,  J.  H.  Sherwin  (1858) 
and  C.  Koppel  (Jefferson  Davis,  bust  portrait,  nearly 
life-size,  1865)  may  also  serve  to  indicate  not  necessarily 
importance,  but  the  prevalence  of  signed  work. 

The  enlarging  proportion  of  German  names  in  this 
later  work  will  be  noted,  as  it  will  also  in  the  record  of 
firms.  But  much  of  the  earliest  work  showed  French 
influence.  In  fact,  among  Imbert's  artists  we  find  the 
names  of  F.  Duponchel  (1825),  J.  Bauncou  and  Canova, 
— presumably  brought  over  from  France  as  P.  S.  Duval 
was  by  Childs  &  Inman  to  take  charge  of  the  lithographic 
department  added  to  their  general  engraving  business. 
Pendleton,  too,  had  studied  the  art  in  Paris  and  brought 
the  materials  with  him.  The  miniature  painter  and  en- 
graver Hugh  Bridport's  portrait  of  John  Vaughan,  after 
T.  Sully,  also  shows  French  influence  and  is  somewhat 
in  the  style  of  his  pupil,  Albert  Newsam  (1809-64),  a 
deaf-mute. 

Newsam  was  an  assiduous  student  of  French  models. 
That  is  apparent  in  his  larger  portrait  of  W.  Rawle, 
one  of  his  best  drawings,  which  stands  out  prominently 
from  the  many  smaller  colorless  portraits  which  he  pro- 
duced. It  is  shown  notably  also  in  the  portrait  of  John 
G.  Watmough  after  Inman,  in  the  style  of  Grevedon, 
his  finest  and  most  stunning  effort.     He  was  originally 


LITHOGRAPHY  187 

apprenticed  to  Childs  to  learn  engraving  on  copper. 
After  Childs  had  gone  Into  partnership  with  Inman,  and 
taken  up  lithography,  Newsam  produced  many  of  his 
earlier  and  best  works  for  that  firm,  and  he  was  active 
also  for  years  in  the  service  of  its  successor  Duval.  De- 
voted principally  to  portraiture,  he  was  most  successful 
when  copying,  for  when  he  drew  directly  from  the  life  he 
faithfully  reproduced  the  tired  look  of  the  sitters  whom 
he  could  not  animate  on  account  of  his  bodily  misfortune. 
His  name  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  history  of 
lithography  in  the  United  States.  J.  O.  Pyatt,  his  teacher 
at  the  deaf  and  dumb  institute,  wrote  a  "  Memoir  "  of 
him  (1868),  and  a  catalogue  of  his  "  Lithographic  Por- 
traits "  was  issued  by  D.  M.  Stauffer  in  1901.  Two 
collectors  at  least — D.  M.  Stauffer  and  Charles  Roberts 
— have  directed  their  energies  in  his  direction,  and  the 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  has  a  number  of  proofs 
which  once  belonged  to  Newsam. 

Childs  himself  produced  creditable  portraits,  such  as 
those  of  Miss  Clara  Fisher,  John  Adams  (partly  done 
with  the  scraper)  and  Gen.  A.  Macomb.  The  first  shows 
deep,  rich  shadows  in  the  hair;  the  last,  printed  by  Pen- 
dleton, Kearny  &  Childs,  is  of  a  soft,  miniature-like  effect. 

The  technique  in  this  early  work  was  that  of  the  crayon 
drawing,  with  occasional  use  of  the  scraper,  the  stroke 
of  the  crayon  being  usually  lost  in  a  uniform,  often 
rather  grayish,  tint.  An  especially  effective  example  of 
this  style  at  its  best  is  found  In  M.  E.  D.  Brown's  portrait 
of  William  P.  Dewees,  after  Neagle,  printed  by  Lehman 
and  Duval,  1833.    Its  deep,  inky  shadows  and  indefinite 


1 88  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

contours  make  it  one  of  the  most  interesting  examples 
of  lithographic  portraiture  that  this  country  has  pro- 
duced. In  a  portrait  of  David  B.  Ogden  and  a  reproduc- 
tion of  a  picture  by  Newton  for  "  The  Amateur 
and  Cabinet,"  Brown  fell  much  below  the  standard 
which  he  himself  had  set  in  this  stunning  portrait  of 
Dewees. 

From  the  late  thirties  to  the  early  fifties  a  little  group 
of  portrait  artists  turned  out  very  respectable  work,  with 
an  occasional  infusion  of  decidedly  artistic  feeling. 
Charles  Fenderich's  series  of  political  notabilities,  issued 
1 837-1 841  in  Washington  under  the  firm  name  of  Charles 
Fenderich  &  Co.,  are  rather  uniformly  dark,  but  fairly 
well  modeled.  His  Garret  D.  Wall  is  the  freest  drawing 
by  him  that  I  have  seen;  Worth  (1844),  ^^so,  is  quite 
good.  F.  D'Avignon  likewise  served  his  portraits  in  a 
lineless  sauce  of  crayon  tint;  he  ran  to  rich,  shimmering 
grays  instead  of  the  sometimes  dull  heavy  blacks  that 
others  affected.  The  series  of  large  portraits  after 
daguerreotypes  by  Brady,  "  Gallery  of  illustrious  Amer- 
icans "  (1850),  is  probably  his  most  familiar  work;  the 
Baron  Stow  (Bufford,  Boston:  1859)  is  one  of  his  best 
in  execution.  A  strong  contrast  to  these  is  offered  in 
his  delicate  miniature  likeness  of  Ralph  Izard  (Boston, 
1844).  The  firm  of  D'Avignon  &  Brainerd  existed  in 
Boston  in  1859. 

Fabronius,  a  Belgian,  who  came  to  Philadelphia  In 
1855  and  worked  for  Rosenthal  and  Duval,  did  good 
portraits.  Martin  Thurwanger,  an  Alsatian,  who  was  in 
this   country   during    1850-55,    employed    the    less-used 


LITHOGRAPHY  189 

medium,  pen  and  ink,  for  his  very  carefully  executed  por- 
traits, such  as  that  of  E.  Biddle. 

Contemporaneously  with  this  activity  in  the  Middle 
and  Eastern  States,  J.  Lion,  a  Frenchman  working  in 
Louisiana  for  many  years,  was  engaged  to  make  a  series 
of  portraits  of  the  legislature  of  1836,  which  series, 
owing  to  the  death  of  the  projector,  was  never  published 
in  collected  form.  His  portrait  of  J.  J.  Morgan,  New 
Orleans,  1846,  shows  a  little  similarity  in  manner  to  the 
lithographs  of  Leon  Noel.  William  Beer,  of  the  How- 
ard Memorial  Library,  writes  me  that  "  the  most  cele- 
brated head  by  Lion  is  one  of  Audubon,"  and  adds 
that  Caspar  Cusachs  has  about  100  lithographs  by  this 
artist. 

Very  much  later  in  the  century,  early  in  the  eighties, 
Max  Rosenthal  did  two  hundred  or  so  of  small  heads 
of  Revolutionary  and  other  notabilities  with  a  light, 
smooth  touch. 

If  the  crayon  tint  is  in  evidence  in  the  drawings  of 
most  of  the  men  who  have  been  mentioned,  the  line  is 
insisted  upon  in  those  of  L.  Grozelier  (portraits  of 
Charles  Sumner,  Lyman  Beecher,  1854,  and  N.  P.  Banks, 
1856)  and  C.  G.  Crehen  (portraits  of  W.  S.  Mount, 
1850,  and  J.  C.  Fremont,  1856).  The  former  drew  for 
Duval  and  for  J.  H.  Bufford  (in  the  fifties)  ;  the  latter 
for  Nagel  &  Weingartner.  Both  of  them  had  some- 
thing of  the  manner  of  the  Frenchman  Julien,  whose 
"  drawing  models  "  were  so  familiar  in  our  boyhood 
days.  Vincent  Collyer,  similarly,  in  his  large  Crayon 
studies  from  life,  gave  a  suggestion  of  the  style  of  Jose- 


I90  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

phine  Ducollet's  modeles  de  dessin,  perhaps  a  bit  freer 
in  treatment.  And  Jules  Emile  Saintin,  a  French  painter 
who  spent  some  years  in  this  country,  did  a  portrait  of 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  (i860)  which  is  worthy  of  special 
mention. 

Lithography  drew  not  a  few  engravers  to  its  service, 
either  directly  as  draughtsmen  on  the  stone,  or  as  man- 
agers or  owners  of  establishments  executing  both  en- 
gravings and  lithographs.  Childs  and  Maverick  have 
already  been  referred  to.  V.  Balch  drew  upon  stone  a 
portrait  of  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  published  by  Imbert. 
Annin  &  SmJth,  says  Stauffer,  "  were  for  some  time  en- 
gaged in  the  lithographic  business  under  the  name  of  the 
Annin  &  Smith  Senefelder  Lithographic  Co.,  of  Boston. 
In  1 83 1  they  sold  out  the  lithographic  business  to  W.  S. 
Pendleton,  who  continued  the  business  as  the  Senefelder 
Co.  of  the  same  city."  John  Cheney  drew  on  stone  for 
Boston  lithographers  two  tender,  silvery-gray  landscapes 
and  a  figure-piece,  The  Broken  Heart.  S.  H.  Gimber 
did  lithographs  beside  engraving  in  stipple  and  mezzo- 
tint. Bridport  stippled  and  lithographed,  as  did  James 
Akin,  apparently  a  "  jack  of  all  trades,"  druggist,  res- 
taurant keeper,  mechanical  draughtsman,  and  what  not. 
And  J.  B.  Martin,  of  Richmond,  executed  a  portrait  of 
John  Randolph  of  Roanoke,  printed  by  Childs.  John 
Rubens  Smith,  who  practised  in  various  media,  brought 
out  A  Compendium  of  Picturesque  Anatomy  .  .  .  on 
four  Folio  Lithographic  Plates  (Boston,  1827)  ;  James 
Smillie,  the  line-engraver,  did  at  least  one  drawing  for 
lithographic  reproduction  {View  of  Union  Park,  lith.  by 


^:^^;rrr^c!5ssf- 


■  I 


^.\E    OK     IHE    "LAMTAtAE    SKETCHES" 

A  series  of  lithographs  by  Winslow  Homer 


LITHOGRAPHY  191 

Sarony  &  Major,  1 849 ) ;  Kimmel  &  Forster  ( The  Pre- 
servers of  our  Union,  1864)  and  H.  B.  Hall  are  credited 
with  some  work  on  the  stone. 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  production  of  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  consisted  of  portraiture, 
but  other  fields  were  not  neglected.  There  is  a  little  gal- 
lery of  landscape  art,  pictures  mainly  of  topographical 
and  local  interest.  Such  are  the  somewhat  dry  "  Views  of 
Philadelphia  and  its  vicinity,"  from  paintings  by  J.  C. 
Wild,  "  published  by  J.  T.  Bowen  at  his  lithographic  and 
print  colouring  establishment"  (1848;  copyright  1840), 
and  the  volume,  "  Scenery  of  the  White  Mountains, 
with  16  plates  from  drawings  of  Isaac  Sprague.  By 
William  Oakes  "  (Boston,  1848:  B.  W.  Thayer  &  Co.). 
Or  the  numerous  views  signed  by  Mrs.  Frances  F. 
Palmer  in  the  forties  and  fifties,  and  published,  some  by 
F.  &  S.  Palmer  and  many  by  Currier  &  Ives.  Not  only 
views  of  large  cities  (e.g.,  View  of  New  York  from  Wee- 
hawken,  1849,  ^^  Suburban  Gothic  Villa,  Murray  Hill, 
New  York),  but  vistas  of  small  towns  and  villages,  re- 
sponding to  local  needs  and  pride.  E.  Whitefield  signed 
a  number  of  views,  among  them  a  large  one  of  Brooklyn 
from  the  United  States  Hotel,  New  York  (1846). 

Two  particularly  fine  examples  of  semi-commercial 
landscape  work  are  Taghanic  Fall,  put  on  stone  by  David 
Glasgow  (died  Jan.  29,  1858,  aged  24)  after  a  draw- 
ing from  nature  by  E.  Whitefield,  and  Catterskill  Falls, 
by  Charles  Parsons.  Both  are  good,  finished,  workman- 
like productions;  they  have  something  of  the  manner  of 
J.  D.  Harding,  or  perhaps  of  Calame.     Parsons,  for 


192  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

many  years  manager  of  the  art  department  of  Harper 
Bros.,  executed  a  number  of  drawings  on  the  stone,  par- 
ticularly large  pictures  of  noted  vessels,  and  a  view  of 
New  York  City  (1858). 

We  were  shown  our  country  also  as  seen  by  foreigners. 
As  the  Frenchman  Milbert  had,  in  the  twenties,  depicted 
the  scenery  of  the  Hudson,  so  A.  Kollner,  of  Diisseldorf, 
in  the  fifties,  drew  a  series  of  American  views  published 
by  Goupil  &  Co. 

Lithography,  for  a  while,  was  much  used  in  book-illus- 
tration. An  early  effort  is  the  title-page  design  of  "  The 
Daughter's  Own  Book"  (Boston,  1833),  a  female  figure 
in  the  manner  of  the  French  romantic  period,  done  by 
Pendleton's  Lithography.  Pendleton  seems  to  have 
printed  many  illustrations,  among  them  those  for  A. 
Bigelow's  "Travels  in  Malta  and  Sicily"  (1831). 
Hawthorne's  "  Visit  to  the  Celestial  City  "  was  published 
in  1844  by  the  American  Sunday  School  Union  with  droll 
lithographic  plates.  In  the  fifties,  sixties  and  seventies 
firms  such  as  Sarony,  Major  &  Knapp  and  Julius  Bien 
were  active  in  this  field.  A  characteristic  example  of  the 
work  of  the  first-named  is  "  Graphic  Scenes  of  the  Japan 
Expedition,  by  W.  Heine,  executed  in  colors  and  tints  " 
(1856).  They  were  responsible  also  for  the  Composi- 
tions for  Judd's  "Margaret"  (1856)  drawn  in  outline 
by  F.  O.  C.  Darley  and  put  on  stone  by  Konrad  Huber, 
and  for  other  similar  work  by  Darley  and  J.  W.  Ehnin- 
ger.  Long  before,  in  1843,  Sinclair  of  Philadelphia  had 
printed  outline  Scenes  in  Indian  Life,  drawn  and  etched 
on  Stone  by  Darley.     Bien's  product  included  the  illus- 


LITHOGRAPHY  193 

trations  for  "  The  House  that  Jack  Built,"  "  Five  Little 
Pigs,"  etc.,  by  H.  L.  Stephens,  issued  1864-5  in  editions 
of  100  copies,  and  the  "Fables  of  ^sop  "  (1867)  by 
the  same  artist. 

Lithography  was  allied  also  to  the  comic  art,  in  hu- 
morous weeklies  such  as  "  Puck,"  "  Judge  "  or  "  The 
Wasp,"  as  well  as  in  separate  sheets  such  as  Thomas 
Worth's  gaudily  colored  caricatures  of  negro  life 
("  Darktown  Fire  Brigade"  and  the  like).  These  last 
were  printed  and  published  by  the  New  York  firm  of 
Currier  &  Ives  (N.  Currier,  1838-62,  Currier  &  Ives, 
1862-1901),  who  for  many  years  before  and  after  the 
Civil  War  issued  a  pictorial  record  of  happenings, — mur- 
ders, battles,  shipwrecks, — as  well  as  portraits  and  views, 
with  little  art  and  much  color.  Portraits,  also,  they  fur- 
nished, and  war-time  cartoons  by  L.  Maurer  and  others. 
Also  prints  with  no  reference  to  specific  events,  such  as 
the  series  of  six  dealing  with  The  Life  of  a  Fireman  by 
L.  Maurer  and  Charles  Parsons,  or  the  Summer  Scenes 
in  New  York  Harbor  (1869)  by  Parsons  and  Atwater. 
Even  as  late  as  the  Spanish-American  War  their  pictures 
formed  the  simplest  and  most  direct  supply  of  the  demand 
for  illustration  of  passing  events.  Such  prints  were  issued 
also  by  John  L.  Magee,  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  fifties. 
Similar  in  purpose  but  better  in  execution  were  such 
prints  as  Lincoln  on  his  Death-bed  and  Grant's  Council 
of  War,  by  Peter  Kramer. 

A  field  in  which  the  stone  quite  crowded  out  the  wood 
block  was  that  of  the  theatrical  poster.  The  artists  Matt 
Morgan  and  H.  A.  Ogden  and  the  firms  Strobridge  Litho- 


194  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

graphic  Co.,  A.  S.  Seer  and  W.  J.  Morgan  have  been 
particularly  identified  with  this  form  of  lithographic  activ- 
ity, into  which  there  have  been  occasional  incursions  from 
without,  so  by  Ernest  Haskell  and  B.  J.  Rosenmeyer 
(portrait  of  Richard  Mansfield). 

As  in  other  countries,  the  music  cover,  cultivated  in 
France  notably  by  Chatiniere,  was  likewise  the  province 
of  lithography,  from  the  days  of  Pendleton  to  those  of 
H.  A.  Thomas.  A  title-vignette  for  a  song,  printed  by 
Pendleton,  1831,  is  signed  Lopez;  another  piece  of  sheet 
music  bears  a  portrait  of  Clay  (Thayer  &  Co.'s  Litho- 
graph, 1844)  ;  and  J.  D.  Smillie  designed  a  vignette  or 
two. 

Many  of  the  names  mentioned  in  this  chapter  represent 
material  for  the  history  of  commercial  lithography,  per- 
haps to  be  written  some  day?  For  us  not  a  few  of  them 
have  mainly  the  somewhat  negative  interest  that  they  do 
appear  on  the  prints,  that  they  were  not  suppressed  and 
covered  by  a  firm  name,  that  the  artist  was  given  his  due. 

Such  considerations  take  us  naturally  into  the  record 
of  firms.  Beside  those  named  elsewhere  in  this  chapter 
there  were  Childs  &  Lehman,  Lehman  &  Duval  (who 
lithographed  the  plates  in  J.  O.  Lewis's  "  Aboriginal 
Port-Folio,"  1835),  Kennedy  &  Lucas,  P.  S.  Duval  & 
Co.,  Pendleton,  Kearny  &  Childs,  and  T.  S.  Sinclair  in 
Philadelphia;  Endicott  &  Swett,  later  Endicott  (1832- 
90),  G.  Hayward,  in  New  York;  T.  Moore,  successor 
of  Pendleton,  and  himself  succeeded  by  Thayer,  W. 
Sharp  &  Co.,  in  Boston;  Wegner,  Brueckner  &  Mueller 
in   Pittsburg    (A.   D.  Wegner  drew  portraits) ;   R.  H. 


LITHOGRAPHY  195 

Pease  in  Albany;  D.  W.  Kellogg  in  Hartford;  and  sim- 
ilar establishments  in  Washington,  Baltimore  and  other 
cities  in  the  third  to  sixth  decades  of  the  century.  And 
if  one  comes  down  to  more  recent  times,  the  list  becomes 
too  long  for  full  citation.  They  were  kept  busy  supply- 
ing demands  for  comic  papers,  posters,  chromos,  adver- 
tisements, cigar-box  labels,  cigarette  cards,  Christmas 
and  other  cards,  supplements  to  periodicals,  and  the  nu- 
merous other  forms  of  pictorial  production  which  came 
from  the  lithographic  press.  Not  a  few  of  these  firms 
were  united  in  the  American  Lithographic  Co. 

A  large  proportion  of  this  later  work  has  been  in 
color.  Printed  in  color,  that  is,  not  hand-coloring  such  as 
it  is  found  in  Grandpapa's  Pet,  Drawn  and  lithotinted 
by  John  H.  Richards  expressly  for  Miss  Leslie's  Maga- 
zine, the  first  Specimen  of  this  Art  ever  produced  in  the 
United  States,  Lith.  of  P.  S.  Duval,  Phila.  Early  efforts 
in  color-printing  are  encountered  occasionally.  For  ex- 
ample, the  cover,  printed  in  colors  by  E.  W.  Bouve,  Bos- 
ton, of  "  The  Waif,"  edited  by  Longfellow  (Cambridge, 
1 845 ) .  Or  the  bust  portrait  of  Washington  lithographed 
and  printed  in  oil  Colors  by  P.  S.  Duval  ^  Son,  Phila- 
delphia. Or  the  Interior  View  of  Independence  Hall, 
Philadelphia  (1856) ,  on  Stone  by  Max  Rosenthal;  Litho- 
graphed and  printed  in  Colors  by  L.  N.  Rosenthal.  The 
color-plates  in  J.  F.  Reigart's  "  Life  of  Robert  Fulton  " 
(1856)  were  produced  by  the  same  combination  of  de- 
signer and  printer.  Max  Rosenthal,  who  came  to  Phila- 
delphia in  1849,  we  are  told,  "made  the  chromo-litho- 
graphic  plates  for  what  is  believed  to  be  the  first  fully 


196  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

illustrated  book  by  this  process  in  the  United  States, 
'  Wild  Scenes  and  Wild  Hunters.'  In  1854  he  drew  and 
lithographed  an  interior  view  of  the  old  Masonic  Temple 
in  Philadelphia,  the  plate  being  22  by  25  inches,  the 
largest  chromo-lithograph  that  had  been  made  in  the 
country  up  to  that  time."  Christian  Schussele,  an  Al- 
satian, who  came  to  Philadelphia  in  1848,  worked  for 
Duval  and  subsequently  turned  to  painting,  is  said  to  have 
learned  chromo-lithography  from  Engelmann  and  intro- 
duced it  here.  He  designed  a  card  for  P.  S.  Duval's 
Lithographic  &*  Color  Printing  Establishment,  which 
firm  executed  also  his  title  for  "  Godey's  "  for  1850. 
After  the  early  development  of  this  new  art  through 
these  two  men  came  Julius  Bien's  large  undertaking,  the 
plates  for  the  i860  re-issue  of  Audubon's  "Birds." 
Among  his  later  color-work  was  a  sheet  of  gems  to  illus- 
trate an  article  by  Dr.  George  F.  Kunz  (1890)  and  a 
reproduction  of  Munkacsy's  Christ  before  Pilate. 

A  name  of  particular  significance  in  the  annals  of  litho- 
graphic color-printing  is  that  of  Louis  Prang,  who  issued 
many  prints,  including  reproductions  of  paintings.  The 
culmination  of  his  achievement  is  to  be  found  in  the  rendi- 
tion of  ceramic  ware  in  the  W.  T.  Walters  collection, 
appearing  in  a  sumptuous  folio  published  in  Baltimore  in 
1884.  Finally,  there  must  be  noted  the  color-plates  done 
by  the  Forbes  Co.  for  the  sumptuous  publication:  "  The 
Bishop  Collection.  Investigations  and  Studies  in  Jade. 
Catalogue"   (1906). 

With  great  improvement  in  commercial  lithography 
there  came  comparatively  few  instances  of  artistic  force 


Flower   Girl 
Lithograph  hy  William  M.  Hunt 


LITHOGRAPHY  197 

or  individuality  as  we  find  it  in  the  work,  say,  of  Sarony, 
Morgan  or  Keppler  to  some  extent.  The  incentive  to 
original  work,  *'  painter-lithography,"  weakened. 

As  has  been  indicated,  the  line  bounding  original  work 
is  not  always  easy  to  draw  absolutely.  Napoleon  Sarony, 
identified  with  lithographic  printing  houses  from  his  thir- 
teenth year,  signed  some  pieces  himself,  executed  with 
a  graceful  and  facile  touch  and  in  a  smooth  manner. 
Shall  David  D.  Neal's  Captain  John  Paty  and  A.  Nahl's 
Thomas  O.  Larkin  (1863),  both  the  work  of  California 
painters,  be  considered  as  original  or  as  commercial  litho- 
graphs? Or  Seymour  J.  Guy's  large  certificate  issued  to 
subscribers  to  the  Brooklyn  and  Long  Island  Fair  in  aid 
of  the  U.  S.  Sanitary  Commission?  Or  the  Campagne 
[sici]  Sketches,  drawn  with  crayon  and  some  scraping, 
with  noteworthy  freedom  of  touch,  by  Winslow  Homer, 
during  the  Civil  War,  and  published  by  Prang  &  Co.  of 
Boston?  Or  even  S.  S.  Frizzell's  suave  rendering,  with 
crayon  and  some  touches  of  the  scraper,  of  W.  M. 
Hunt's  Elaine  (1866)  ?  Decision  is  not  quite  so  diflicult 
if  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  fact  that  a  painter  happens 
to  make  a  drawing  for  a  lithographic  house  does  not 
per  se  constitute  the  result  a  "  painter-lithograph."  It 
is  a  matter  of  expression  of  individuality,  that  is  all.  The 
question  is  simply,  does  the  result  clearly  bear  the  impress 
of  the  artist's  personality,  is  it  an  outcome  of  his  own 
unhampered  self? 

W.  M.  Hunt,  in  the  sixties,  showed  true  painter  quali- 
ties in  some  original  lithographs  of  a  flower  girl,  a 
Savoyard    (hurdy-gurdy  player)    and  other  simple  sub- 


198  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

jects  treated  in  a  big  way,  with  remarkable  feeling  for 
tone  and  color.  About  the  same  time  (1870)  G.  W. 
Nichols  of  New  York  published  a  series  of  lithographs 
by  painters,  among  them  Twilight  by  A.  Delessard,  Twi- 
light by  F.  Rondel  after  a  painting  by  George  Inness, 
Plato  by  F.  B.  Mayer,  and  particularly  Hagar  and  Ish- 
mael,  z  good,  strong  bit  of  work  by  Edwin  White,  who 
showed  here  the  same  quiet  richness  that  marks  some  of 
his  paintings. 

To  these  few  names  must  be  added  those  of  Thomas 
Moran  and  J.  Foxcroft  Cole.  Moran  is  known  as  a 
painter  by  the  chromatic  glories  of  his  Turnerian  Venice 
scenes  and  his  depictions  of  the  grandiose  beauty  of  the 
Western  United  States.  Similarly,  he  expressed  in  the 
black-and-white  of  the  stone  his  love  of  bold,  scenic  ef- 
fects, towering  mountains,  forest  giants,  vistas  of  wild, 
stern  nature.  Two  of  his  best-known  lithographs  are 
Solitude  (a  wood-interior:  No.  i  of  his  Studies  and  Pic- 
tures, 1868)  and  South  Shore  of  Lake  Superior  (1869). 
The  last,  a  strong  and  picturesque  performance,  is  his 
best,  as  he  says  himself;  the  stone  was  unfortunately  de- 
stroyed by  accident,  when  but  ten  or  twelve  impressions 
had  been  taken. 

A  remarkable  contrast  to  the  vigor  and  sweep  of  such 
work  is  offered  in  the  eight  pastorals  of  Cole  (six  of  them 
issued  by  L.  Prang  &  Co.  in  1 870  as  part  i  of  an  "  Album 
of  American  Artists  "),  simple  in  subject  and  treatment, 
with  a  quiet  charm  in  harmony  with  their  characteriza- 
tion as  pastorals.  Cole,  like  Winslow  Homer  and  East- 
man Johnson,  was  originally  a  lithographer  in  the  estab- 


LITHOGRAPHY  199 

lishment  of  Bufford;  Homer's  oeuvre  includes  a  number 
of  little  cards  of  soldier  life  during  the  Civil  War,  issued 
by  Prang  as  were  the  Campagne  Sketches,  but  approach- 
ing the  subject  rather  more  from  the  humorous  side. 

So  there  was  promising  material  about  the  year  1870, 
but  the  period  of  active  interest  in  the  resources  of  the 
stone  was  short.  And  it  was  not  until  about  1896  that 
a  revival  of  interest  took  place.  Montague  Marks,  then 
editor  of  the  "Art  Amateur"  (New  York),  enlisted 
the  attention  of  various  artists, — J.  Carroll  Beckwith, 
J.  Alden  Weir,  H.  W.  Ranger,  F.  Hopkinson  Smith, 
Joseph  Lauber,  J.  G.  Brown,  Ruger  Donoho  and  Cleve- 
land Coxe, — who  at  his  instigation  made  attempts  in 
lithography.  A  particular  understanding  of  the  effects 
which  this  medium  makes  possible  to  the  artist  was  shown 
by  Weir  (who  used  the  scraper  in  some  characteristic 
studies  of  home  life)  and  Ranger,  whose  On  the  Seine 
is  an  admirable  rendition  of  a  rainy  day  with  its  sky  of 
tremulous  gray  and  the  reflecting  glint  of  the  wet  stones. 

That  is  as  far  as  it  went.  One  drawing,  at  most  two, 
apiece  were  had  from  these  artists.  That  was  all. 
Marks's  idea  of  an  "  American  Society  of  Painter  Litho- 
graphers "  ("  Art  Amateur,"  1896,  p.  105;  1897,  p.  69) 
was  not  realized.  With  so  little  to  record,  one  feels 
grateful  for  any  farther  sign  of  intelligent  and  discrim- 
inating interest  in  the  art.  Even  the  fact  that  Robert 
Blum  and  W.  J.  Baer  did  some  retouching  on  a  stone  to 
which  a  pastel  by  Blum  (Japanese  peasant  girl)  had  been 
photographically  transferred  for  "  Scribner's  Magazine  " 
is  noted  here  as  a  historical  detail.     C.  A.  Vanderhoof, 


200  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

the  etcher,  once  used  the  stone  In  the  production  of  a 
series  of  covers  for  a  magazine.  And  C.  F.  W.  MIelatz 
showed  the  same  devotion  to  the  nooks  and  corners  of 
New  York  City,  which  we  know  In  his  etchings.  In  a 
series  of  12  lithographs  Issued  by  the  New  York  "  So- 
ciety of  Iconophlles."  This  same  society  a  few  years  ago 
brought  out  a  set  of  skyscraper  studies  by  Joseph  Pennell. 

The  last  name  recalls  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion 
of  the  best  painter-lithographs  of  more  recent  date  by 
American  artists  was  produced  abroad. 

The  story  of  Whistler's  Introduction  to  lithography 
by  T.  R.  Way  (who  says  that  he  found  In  It  "  a  medium 
which  is  more  sympathetic  and  personal  even  than  the 
copper-plate  ")  forms  an  Interesting  chapter  In  the  his- 
tory of  the  art.  He  abandoned  the  medium  for  a  time 
and  ultimately  resumed  it  to  make  It  peculiarly  a  means 
of  expression  for  his  nervously  sensitive  artistic  person- 
ality. Some  of  the  greatest  masters  of  lithography — 
Isabey,  Daumier,  Gavarni — had  accustomed  us  to  velvety 
blacks,  to  dark  notes  of  a  rich  resonance.  Even  the  most 
vaporous  passages  of  Fantln-Latour  had  richness  and 
depth  and  mass.  The  battle-pieces  of  Raffet  were  verita- 
ble paintings  In  black-and-white.  The  landscapes  of 
Calame  and  J.  D.  Harding  were  essentially  a  matter  of 
tones.  And  now  came  Whistler,  did  away  with  tones 
(except  In  his  few  lithotints),  gave  us  crayon  drawings 
in  which  the  insistence  was  on  the  line,  limited  in  quan- 
tity to  the  least  possible,  tremulous  In  its  sensitive  re- 
sponse to  passing  mood.  With  a  joyous  spontaneity 
Whistler  set  down  these  impressions  of  shifting  grace 


LITHOGRAPHY  201 

in  form  and  movement,  with  a  touch  as  light  as  air,  of 
an  almost  evanescent  suggestiveness,  sometimes  height- 
ened by  spots  of  color.  His  gray  line  and  the  summari- 
ness  of  his  method  show  a  marked  difference  from  the 
rich,  deep  notes,  and  completeness  of  effect,  characteristic 
of  a  Decamps,  an  Isabey  or  a  Menzel.  He  added  a 
highly  interesting  variant  to  the  illustrations  of  technical 
possibilities  in  lithography  that  the  nineteenth  century  has 
given  us. 

Whistler  singled  out  the  crispness  of  Pennell's  "  Span- 
ish "  series  for  special  mention.  Pennell  has,  indeed, 
made  interesting  trials  of  various  resources  of  the  stone, 
as  in  Poitiers:  Church  of  St.  Hilaire,  or  in  those  prints 
showing  a  castle  on  a  hill,  to  the  right  of  a  broad  road, 
with  rich  unctuous  blacks,  produced  by  crayon,  brush  and 
rags,  with  lights  brought  out  by  the  scraper.  But  his 
preference  has  evidently  been  for  the  pure  line  of  the 
crayon,  the  grainy  effect  of  which  is  characteristic  of  most 
of  his  work.  It  is  found  in  the  numerous  drawings  made 
for  Irving's  "  Alhambra  "  and  the  "  Highways  and  By- 
ways "  series  of  books  on  English  counties,  and  in  the 
Spanish  and  Holland  series  of  lithographs.  In  the  last- 
named,  more  satiety  of  effect  is  gained;  this,  finally,  in  his 
views  of  the  Rouen  Cathedral,  sounds  in  deep,  booming 
notes  of  black  that  throw  the  delicate  treatment  of  dec- 
orated form  into  effective  relief. 

John  S.  Sargent,  in  some  studies  of  draped  models 
drawn  on  transfer  paper,  shows  much  of  the  style  and 
feeling  that  are  admired  in  his  remarkable  water-color 
studies.     His  broad  crayon-strokes  and  rich,  dark  shad- 


202  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

ows  form  an  interesting  contrast  to  the  pencil-drawing- 
like manner  of  Whistler  and  thus  illustrate  the  pliability 
of  the  medium  in  the  happiest  manner.  E.  A.  Abbey  is 
said  to  have  made  some  attempts,  of  which  I  have  seen 
only  a  caricature  of  Sir  John  Hare,  the  actor.  And 
Mary  Cassatt,  of  Paris,  is  represented  solely  by  a  Lady 
in  a  theatre  box  (1891),  an  "  early  and  only  attempt," 
as  she  says,  of  which  but  five  impressions  were  taken. 

Robert  J.  Wickenden,  on  the  other  hand,  took  up  the 
practice  of  the  art  with  energy,  and  produced  a  number 
of  prints,  among  which  La  Mere  Pannecaye  (a  char- 
acter study  of  an  old  Frenchwoman,  rendered  with  lov- 
ing appreciation)  and  La  Ren  tree  du  Troupeau,  shown 
at  the  Salon  of  1894  and  published  in  the  same  year  in 
"  Les  Peintres  LIthographes  "  (first  issue). 

Albert  Sterner,  too,  turned  to  lithography  for  a  time 
when  abroad,  and  produced  particularly  some  portraits 
of  distinction.  "  It  is  in  his  lithographs  and  his  crayon 
and  chalk  portraits,"  said  Christian  Brinton,  "  that  Mr. 
Sterner  displayed  the  fullest  measure  of  his  ability,"  and 
adds  that  he  is  "  subjective  and  sensitive  to  a  singular 
degree." 

Home  production  to-day  is  almost  nil.  Not  quite; 
some  few  things  are  to  be  recorded,  about  which  the 
general  public  presumably  knows  little,  principally  be- 
cause they  have  been  seldom  exhibited.  Ozlas  Dodge, 
in  whom  professional  didactics  are  mingled  with  experi- 
mentatlve  and  inventive  Interest  in  reproductive  proc- 
esses, held  an  exhibition  of  auto-lithographs  In  New  York 
in  1902.    Ernest  Haskell  drew  some  clever  portraits  of 


>3    >- 


HW  i! 


LITHOGRAPHY  203 

Mrs.  Fiske,  the  actress  (1900-1901),  used  as  posters, 
and  some  landscape  sketches.  Arthur  B.  Davies  presented 
a  dozen  or  so  of  delightful  experiments,  no  two  alike  in 
method  of  production,  the  process  sensitively  adapted 
to  various  needs.  John  Sloan's  incursions  into  this  field 
are  similar  in  spirit  and  subject  to  his  etchings.  A  por- 
trait of  Ernest  Lawson  by  W.  J.  Glackens  exists,  I  am 
told,  in  only  three  impressions.  And  Glenn  Hinshaw, 
at  the  American  Water  Color  Society,  19 10,  showed  A 
Bit  of  old  Paris,  done  on  transfer  paper. 

Clever  essays,  most  of  these ;  sporadic  attempts,  which, 
often  seen  by  but  a  few,  fade  away  again  from  notice 
without  having  had  time  to  make  a  deep  impression. 
There  is  not  even  the  sustained  impulse,  the  continuous 
effort,  that  would  justify  a  reference  to  "  voices  crying 
in  the  wilderness."  One  may  speculate  ad  libitum  on  this 
apathy,  this  want  of  recognition  of  a  medium  that  in  its 
supple  responsiveness  to  the  artist's  intention  offers  so 
wide  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  the  varied  shades  of  tech- 
nique that  form  the  expression  of  different  individuali- 
ties. Is  it  that  the  taint  of  commercialism  continues  to 
cling,  in  the  mind  of  many,  to  the  conception  of  lithogra- 
phy? Have  the  very  men  who  have  had  practical  ex- 
perience through  their  early  apprenticeship  in  commercial 
lithography — W.  J.  Baer,  E.  Potthast,  A.  I.  Keller, 
Charles  Broughton,  the  late  Louis  Loeb  and  C.  Schrey- 
vogel — been  kept  away  by  this  experience?  Or  is  the 
want  of  good  printers,  cited  by  more  than  one  artist  as 
the  reason  why  he  has  not  practised  the  art,  the  real 
cause  of  the  trouble? 


204  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Whatever  the  cause,  there  seems  to  be  no  immediate 
ground  for  the  hope  that  this  reproductive  process  may 
be  taken  up  again  as  an  autographic  art,  in  spite  of  the 
rich  means  of  expression  which  it  offers  the  artist.  Even 
its  facility  is  in  its  favor.  It  does  not  lay  upon  the  artist 
the  burden  of  a  long  apprenticeship.  In  these  days  of 
transfer-paper  we  have  done  away  with  whatever  incon- 
venience the  direct  working  on  the  stone  may  imply.  It 
is  a  mystery,  almost,  that  an  art  so  supple  in  expression, 
so  rich  in  resources,  so  absolute  in  its  reproduction  of  the 
artist's  touch  without  the  intervention  of  any  other 
agency,  should  not  have  called  forth  a  readier  response 
to  its  appeal. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  ILLUSTRATORS 

The  history  of  the  reproductive  processes  is  to  a  great 
extent  the  history  of  book-illustration.  In  the  preceding 
chapters  it  has  been  shown  how  line-engraving,  etching, 
mezzotint,  aquatint,  lithography  and  wood-engraving 
have  each  had  its  period  of  application  to  the  ever-present 
demand  for  elucidation  or  adornment  of  the  printed  page 
by  means  of  picture  or  ornament.  To  a  particularly  high 
degree  is  this  true  of  wood-engraving.  Its  office  as  an 
agent  of  pleasure  and  of  pictorial  instruction  in  connec- 
tion with  the  printing  press  has  been  of  long  duration. 
In  this  country,  too,  it  long  held  practically  undisputed 
sway  until  it  was  supplanted  by  the  now  ubiquitous  half- 
tone. 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  what  little  we  had  of  book- 
illustration — an  occasional  portrait  or  map  was  really  all  \ 
that  the  writings  of  local  divines,  or  other  similarly  serious  \ 
publications,  called  for — was  done  in  copper-engraving,  i 
The  glamor  of  elegance  which  hung  about  this  latter  I 
medium  in  Europe   (with  us  it  was  the  glamor  without 
the  elegance)  similarly  overshadowed  the  humble  wood 
block  here.     With  the  Revolution  there  came  at  least 
some  native  response  to  the  demand  for  pictorial  illus- 
tration of  current  events,  and  activity  found  still  further 

opportunity  to  increase  when  political  independence  was 

205 


2o6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

assured.  We  were  beginning,  to  take  breath  while  build- 
.  ing  up  the  nation,  and  to  note  natural  beauties  around  us; 
also,  pride  in  national  achievements  and  local  develop- 
ment called  for  tangible  pictorial  records.  All  of  this  is 
dealt  with  at  length  in  the  chapters  on  line-engraving, 
stipple,  aquatint  and  mezzotint,  and  the  dominance  of 
these  media  extends  well  into  the  nineteenth  century. 

Periodical  literature  played  Its  prominent  and  impor- 
tant part  in  the  fostering  of  engraving  on  copper  and 
steel  in  the  nineteenth  century.  The  "  New  York  Mir- 
i/Tor"  (begun  in  1823)  published  much  good  work,  par- 
ticularly views.  Then  came  other  ventures,  "  Family 
Magazine  "  (in  the  thirties),  "  Picture  Gallery  "  (1843) 
and  "  Godey's  Lady's  Book."  The  last-named  took  great 
pains  to  inform  its  readers  that  no  plates  so  fine  were 
to  be  found  in  any  magazine  and  that  they  were  from 
designs  expressly  for  "  Godey's."  This  last  is  the  best 
that  can  be  said  of  them:  poor  as  they  were,  they  were 
generally  after  paintings  or  drawings  by  Americans. 
George  G.  White,  C.  Schussele,  Mrs.  Lily  Martin  Spen- 
cer, P.  F.  Rothermel,  H.  L.  Stephens,  E.  Brown,  John 
R.  Chapin,  James  Hamilton  the  Philadelphia  marine 
painter,  Dallas,  William  Croome  and  H.  Bispham  were 
those  whose  works  were  thus  reproduced  between  1840- 

65. 

The  literary  annuals  and  "  tokens  "  and  "  keepsakes," 
so  numerous  in  those  days,  were  likewise  illustrated  with 
steel  plates  (generally  in  line,  sometimes  in  mezzotint), 
as  were  the  various  "  elegant  publications,  suited  for  the 
drawing-room    table,"    as    one    advertisement    put    it, — 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  207 

"  drawing-room  books,"  collections  of  inanely  sentimental 
"  beauties "  of  the  poets,  volumes  of  local  description, 
immortalizations  of  cemeteries.  The  plates  in  the  Amer- 
ican editions  of  the  volumes  of  that  peripatetic  British 
world-illustrator,  William  Henry  Bartlett,  were  in  many 
instances  re-engraved  by  Americans.  The  steel-engraving 
as  a  means  of  direct  illustration  survived  until  after  the 
Civil  War.  So,  for  example,  in  certain  illustrations  by 
F.  O.  C.  Darley,  among  them  the  graceful  and  charac- 
teristic vignettes  for  the  edition  of  Dickens,  issued  by 
Houghton  and  Mifflin.  Or  in  the  rather  mechanical 
plates  done  after  paintings  by  Alonzo  Chappel  (who 
died  in  1890  or  1891)  for  the  "National  Portrait  Gal- 
lery of  Eminent  Americans"  (1862)  and  other  publica- 
tions of  Johnson,  Fry  &  Co.  Various  people  have  dis- 
covered that  Chappel  based  his  work  on  fairly  careful 
preparation  in  the  study  of  necessary  historical  data.  In 
my  own  case,  my  eyes  were  first  opened  to  that  fact  by 
the  comparison  of  his  picture  of  the  shooting  of  Elmer  E. 
Ellsworth  with  a  photograph  of  Francis  E.  Brownell, 
who  shot  Ellsworth's  assassin,  in  order  to  verify  the 
Zouave  costume  which  the  artist  has  put  on  him.  Chap- 
pel, by  the  way,  collaborated  with  Darley  in  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  Stratford  edition  of  Shakespeare,  edited  by 
W.  C.  Bryant  (1886).  That,  I  believe,  was  the  last 
important  work  by  either  of  them. 

It  is  to  be  noted  also  that  the  Cruikshank-Phiz-Leech 
period  of  etched  book-illustration  in  England  had  a  slight 
reflex  in  our  country.  The  work  of  Yeager  and  Bellew 
is  referred  to  under  "  Etching,"  as  are  the  later  etched 


2o8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

illustrations  by  Colman,  those  for  Dean  Sage's  book  on 
the  "  Ristigouche,"  and  Sloan's  plates. 

Finally,  there  was  some  use  of  lithography  for  book- 
illustration, — beginning  in  the  thirties  and  applied  in 
black-and-white,  in  tints,  and  even  in  the  full  colors  of 
chromo-lithography,  all  of  which  is  set  down  in  the  chap- 
ter on  lithography.  Barley's  "  Scenes  in  Indian  Life  " 
(1843)  ^^'^  ^^^  illustrations  for  Irving's  "Rip  Van 
Winkle"  (1848:  American  Art  Union;  re-issued,  much 
reduced,  in  London,  1850,  in  six  etchings  on  steel  by 
Charles  Simms),  "Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow"  (Ameri- 
can Art  Union,  1849),  Judd's  "  Margaret"  (1856),  all 
in  outline,  were  etched  on  stone.  John  W.  Ehninger  em- 
ployed the  same  process  for  his  outline  plates  for  Irving's 
"  Dolph  Heyliger"  (1851).  The  last-named  artist's 
drawings  for  "Ye  Legend  of  St.  Gwendoline"  (1867) 
were  reproduced  by  photography,  an  unusual  method, 
"because,"  said  H.  C.  Bunner  ("Harper's,"  October, 
1892),  "they  were  considered  too  delicate  to  entrust  to 
the  engraver's  burin." 

But  during  all  this  time,  wood-engraving,  with  its 
peculiar  possibilities  of  direct  and  harmonious  combina- 
V  tion  with  the  type-printed  page,  was  coming  to  its  own. 
Even  in  the  earliest,  crude  efforts  one  feels  some  of  this 
connection  between  woodcut  and  type-metal  printing,  both 
relief  processes.  From  the  rehabilitation  of  wood-en- 
graving in  the  days  of  Anderson,  to  its  consummate  de- 
velopment about  two  or  three  decades  ago,  its  applica- 
tion as  a  means  of  adornment  and  as  a  source  of,  and 
impetus  to,   pictorial  instruction  in  connection  with  the 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  209 

printed  page  was  far-reaching  and  enormous  in  extent  and 
incalculable  in  its  effect  on  the  public.  The  growing  de- 
mand for  illustration  of  historical  works,  schoolbooks  and 
fiction  called  into  being  the  professional  illustrator,  a  class 
which  rapidly  increased  in  numbers  and  ability. 

One  may  note,  in  passing,  the  early  occasional  work 
of  John  Ludlow  Morton  or  D.  C.  Johnston.  But  it 
is  with  the  forties  that  there  set  in  an  impetus  toward 
freer  and  more  artistic  drawing  on  the  block.  A  partic- 
ularly noteworthy  undertaking  was  the  Harper  Bible, 
with  about  1,400  drawings  by  John  Gadsby  Chapman, 
executed  with  meticulous  care  in  the  spirit  of  the  steel- 
engraving.  Somewhat  freer,  but  yet  with  something  of 
the  feeling  of  the  English  artist  John  Thurston,  were 
the  Shakespeare  illustrations  (1853)  of  T.  H.  Matteson, 
perhaps  his  best  work.  Peter  Paul  Duggan,  N.A.,  exe- 
cuted some  promising  designs  in  his  short  life.  William 
Croome,  an  accession  from  the  ranks  of  the  wood- 
engravers,  illustrated  John  Frost's  "  Book  of  the  Navy  " 
(1843),  "Songs  for  the  People"  (1849),  ^^^  other 
works  with  some  spirit.  And  Hammatt  Billings,  who 
began  life  as  a  wood-engraver,  became  an  architect,  and 
designed  the  monument  to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  at  Ply- 
mouth, Illustrated  a  number  of  books,  among  them  Whit- 
tier's  poems  (1849),  Waverley  Novels  (1857-59)  ^^^ 
writings  of  H.  B.  Stowe,  Dickens,  Pellico,  S.  S.  Goodrich 
and  others,  in  the  fifties. 

With  the  opening  of  this  new  period.  In  the  early 
forties,  there  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  soon  at  the 
front,  one  who  still  stands  on  our  records  as  perhaps  the 


2IO  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

most  noteworthy  example,  everything  considered,  of  an 
"  all  around  "  illustrator  that  we  have  had, — Felix  O.  C. 
Darley.  Darley's  industry  was  as  great  as  his  facility 
and  versatility,  and  for  years  the  phrase  "  illustrated  by 
Darley "  or  "  with  designs  by  Darley  "  appeared  with 
never-failing  regularity  in  the  publishers'  announcements 
of  new  books.  The  swing  of  his  style,  his  big  grasp  of 
both  individual  action  and  the  movement  of  groups  of 
bodies,  give  his  work  a  distinction  even  to-day.  His  illus- 
trations, even  if  we  pick  faults  in  details  of  drawing,  are 
really  illustrations  and  not  simply  painfully  exact  draw- 
ings without  any  appreciable  reference  to  the  text,  or 
pictures  of  "  swagger "  young  men  with  stern  brows, 
massive  chins  and  padded  shoulders,  and  the  ever-beauti- 
ful young  woman  whom  we  are  tickled  to-day  to  accept 
as  the  only  possible  type  of  an  American  girl.  Darley's 
industry  and  versatility  recall  the  activity  of  Dore.  Be- 
fore the  mind's  eye  there  rise  his  early  Philadelphia  street 
scenes,  occasional  "comics,"  title  designs  (as  for  "The 
Lantern"),  and  the  illustrations  for  Irving's  "Knicker- 
bocker History  of  New  York,"  Poe,  Wm.  Gilmore  Simms, 
Stories  of  Western  and  Southern  life,  juveniles,  Frank 
Forester's  sporting  books,  Tristram  Shandy,  Joseph  C. 
Neal's  humor,  "Nick  of  the  Woods,"  T.  B.  Thorpe 
("  the  bee  hunter  "),  Cooper  (whom  he  illustrated  both 
on  wood  and  on  steel — over  500  designs  for  this  author 
are  credited  to  him) ,  Dickens  (the  Boston  edition,  with  all 
the  English  illustrations,  "  to  which  are  added  the  unsur- 
passed designs  by  F.  O.  C.  Darley  and  John  Gilbert"), 
Lossing's  "Our  Country"    (500  drawings),  the  outline 


he 


§    ^ 


<     Sd 


.2     rt 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  211 

compositions  already  mentioned  and  the  later  works, 
Evangeline  and  the  Shakespeare  plates.  To  all  this  must 
be  added  also  the  numerous  bank-note  vignettes  and  the 
large  Civil  War  framing  prints,  March  to  the  Sea,  etc. 
The  mere  quantity  of  it  is  astonishing,  but  respect  for 
this  artist  is  much  increased  when  one  surveys  this  great 
output,  and  realizes  the  high  average  merit  of  it  all.  It 
was  inevitable  that  such  unceasing  demand  on  his  powers 
should  develop  a  manner,  but  at  its  best — and  it  was 
remarkably  often  at  its  best — it  approached  so  closely  to  a 
style  as  to  challenge  a  definition  of  difference.  And  it 
imposed  itself  with  a  virile  distinction  that  exerts  its 
own  peculiar  charm,  using  that  word  in  its  best  sense. 
There  exist  rough  preparatory  sketches  for  a  number  of 
designs  later  to,  be  drawn  on  the  block,  unctuous  little 
conceptions  of  vignettes.  And  there  are  also  interesting 
examples  of  the  use  of  the  pencil  in  swirls  where  the 
line  is  used  in  masses  to  block  out  movement  and  com- 
position. These,  again,  can  be  contrasted  with  carefully 
detailed  studies  from  nature,  showing  how  facts  care- 
fully observed,  noted  and  stored  up  formed  the  founda- 
tion for  Darley's  easy  presentation. 

The  strong  personality  of  Darley,  while  not  actually 
imitated,  seems  to  impress  its  character  somewhat  on  the 
period  before  and  during  the  Civil  War.  The  swing  and 
vigor  of  his  style  find  a  certain  reflection  in  the  drawings, 
somewhat  exaggerated  in  strength,  of  Jacob  A.  Dallas, 
and  in  those  of  Frederick  M.  Coffin  ("  Fern  Leaves  from 
Fanny's  Portfolio,"  1854)  and  E.  J.  Whitney. 

In  the  fifties,   various  efforts  to   establish  illustrated 


212  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

magazines  naturally  had  their  influence  on  the  art  of  illus- 
tration. In  some  of  the  earliest  ones,  the  "  International 
Monthly"  (New  York,  volumes  1-5:  1850-52),  "Na- 
tional Magazine"  (New  York,  volume  i,  1852)  and 
"  United  States  Magazine,"  the  cuts  were,  indeed,  mainly 
copied  from  other  sources.  But  the  last-named  had,  at 
least,  some  drawings  by  John  R.  Chapin,  as  well  as  those 
for  Major  Jack  Downing's  "  Letters "  (1857)  by  J.  H. 
Howard  (who  illustrated  also  Downing's  "  My  thirty 
Years  out  of  the  Senate,"  1859),  and  all  three  had  por- 
traits by  Samuel  Wallin.  Wallin,  clever  in  his  specialty, 
was  much  in  demand,  and  drew  all  the  heads  in  the 
"  Illustrated  American  Biography"  (1853-55),  re-issued 
in  1867  as  A.  J.  Jones's  "American  Portrait  Gallery." 
He  was  better  than  J.  A.  Oertel,  had  more  aplomb,  but 
it  is  interesting  to  compare  his  portraits,  always  done 
with  the  same  recognizable  curves,  manner  more  evident 
than  characterization,  with  such  a  careful  production  as 
J  August  Will's  portrait  of  Alexander  Anderson,  published 
in  the  "  Child's  Paper"  in  1867. 
^  In  the  meantime,  "  Harper's  Magazine  "  had  come  in 
1 85 1  to  stay.  The  publishers  made  haste  slowly  in  the 
art  department,  but  gradually  the  illustrations  increased 
and  improved.  Among  this  periodical's  artists  in  the 
first  decade  of  its  existence  were  Frank  Bellew,  J.  R. 
Chapin  (who  reappeared  at  the  end  of  the  eighties  in 
the  pages  of  the  "  American  Magazine  "  and  as  the  illus- 
trator of  Edgar  Fawcett's  "  Olivia  Delaplaine  "),  F.  M. 
Cofl^n,  W.  H.  Davenport,  Darley,  Dallas,  C.  E.  Doepler, 
Hinsdale,  D.  C.  Hitchcock  (the  "  Hitchie  "  of  Vedder's 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  213 

"  Digressions  of  V.,"  19 10),  Augustus  Hoppin  (illustra- 
tor of  "  Nothing  to  Wear,"  1857,  and  later  of  books  by 
W.  D.  Howells,  G.  W.  Curtis,  C.  D.  Warner,  D.  M. 
Craik  and  B.  P.  Shillaber),  E.  F.  Mullen,  Thwaites, 
H.  L.  Stephens,  B.  J.  Lossing,  T.  Addison  Richards  and 
David  H.  Strother  ("Porte  Crayon"). 

The  last  three  were  artist  authors,  frequently  Illus- 
trating their  own  writings.  Lossing  not  only  drew  the 
illustrations  for  nearly  all  of  his  popular  books,  such  as 
the  *'  Field  Books  "  of  the  Revolution  and  the  War  of 
18 12,  and  "The  Hudson  from  the  Wilderness  to  the 
Sea,"  but  the  woodcuts  also  bear  the  signature  of  Lossing 
&'  Barritt  as  engravers.  T.  Addison  Richards  was  prob- 
ably the  first  artist  in  this  country  to  make  a  specialty 
of  drawing  acceptable  landscape  illustrations  on  the  wood. 
He  furnished  both  drawings  and  text  for  "  Romance  of 
American  Landscape "  and  other  volumes.  "  Porte 
Crayon  "  illustrated  Southern  life  with  pen  and  pencil, 
a  number  of  his  papers  being  gathered  in  book  form 
under  the  title  "  Virginia  illustrated."  And  while  on 
this  subject  of  artist-authors,  there  may  be  mentioned  also 
T.  B.  Thorpe,  Capt.  George  H.  Derby  ("The  Squibob 
Papers,  by  John  Phoenix.  With  comic  Illustrations  by 
the  Author,"  1865),  H.  W.  Herbert  ("  Frank  Forester  " 
of  sporting  books  fame),  Thomas  Butler  Gunn  ("  Physi- 
ology of  the  New  York  Boarding  House"),  Augustus 
Hoppin,  Charles  C.  Perkins,  G.  G.  White,  C.  A.  Barry 
and  H.  W.  Herrick,  the  last  three  responsible  for  hand- 
books on  drawing  and  painting.  In  later  years  the  tribe 
increased  greatly:  Livingston  Hopkins,  J.  Carter  Beard, 


214  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Dan.  C.  Beard  ("The  American  Boy's  Handy  Book,'* 
1883),  Palmer  Cox  ("Brownie"  books),  A.  F.  Jaccaci, 
Wm.  Hamilton  Gibson,  Frank  D.  Millet,  Mary  Hallock 
Foote,  W.  H.  McDougall,  C.  S.  Reinhart,  Frank  French, 
A.  C.  Redwood  (stories  of  the  war  from  the  Southern 
standpoint) ,  W.  H.  Shelton,  Frederic  Remington,  George 
Wharton  Edwards,  George  Gibbs,  E.  Seton  Thompson 
and  many  more  illustrated  fiction  of  their  own  making 
or  stories  of  their  experiences  and  travels,  amused  the 
young  idea  or  taught  it  how  to  shoot  or  do  other  things, 
or  established  reciprocal  emphasis  between  their  drawn 
and  written  humor.  Some  of  them  were  rather  better 
known  as  writers,  who  took  up  the  pencil  to  add  the 
force  of  graphic  representation  to  their  written  word, 
as  did  also  Frank  B.  Mayer,  Edward  Strahan  ("Earl 
Shinn"),  W.  Mackay  Laffan,  Wm.  H.  Bishop,  Roger 
Riordan. 

But  this  was  a  divagation,  and  we  return  to  the  Harper 
artists,  of  whom  Carl  Emil  Doepler  was  a  German  with 
a  facile  style  and  a  sufficient  attention  to  detail  to  make 
pleasing  illustrations.  He  was  in  this  country  during 
1849-55,  ^"^  among  his  very  many  designs  were  those 
for  J.  S.  C.  Abbott's  "Life  of  Napoleon"  (1871,  the 
ilustrations  notably  numerous)  and  the  Jacob  Abbott 
"  Rollo "  books.  A  large  percentage  of  the  Harper 
draughtsmen  were  at  one  time  or  another  engaged  in  the 
production  of  "  comics  " :  Bellew,  Darley,  Hoppin,  E.  F. 
Mullen  (one  of  Artemus  Ward's  illustrators  and 
"friends  all  the  year  'round"),  McLenan  and  H.  L. 
Stephens. 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  215 

There  was  still  another  factor  of  note  in  all  this  move- 
ment, the  spread  of  illustrated  weekly  journalism.  In 
1851  T.  W.  Strong  brought  out  the  first  illustrated  weekly 
worthy  of  note,  the  "  Illustrated  American  News."  Dal- 
las drew  the  title,  and  the  illustrations  were  signed  by 
Bellew,  C.  J.  Brown,  G.  T.  Devereux,  Elliot,  Egbert, 
Chapin,  D.  C.  Hitchcock,  John  H.  Goater,  Hoppin,  Mc- 
Donough,  Magee,  Masson,  W.  R.  Miller,  E.  Purcell, 
Howell  and  Wallin.  This  publication  ended  the  same 
year  and  was  followed  on  January  4,  1853,  by  the  "  Illus- 
trated News"  (issued  by  P.  T.  Barnum  and  Beach,  of 
the  "Sun"),  which  lived  a  year  and  passed  into 
*'  Gleason's  Pictorial,"  of  Boston,  in  which  city  Ballou 
also  issued  illustrated  publications. 

These  unsuccessful  efforts  to  found  a  weekly  illustrated 
paper  on  a  permanent  basis  were  followed  by  "  Frank 
Leslie's  Illustrated  Newspaper"  in  1855  and  "Harper's 
Weekly"  in  1857.  Leslie  had  been  engaged  on 
Gleason's;  his  weekly  eventually  came  out  also  in  a  Ger- 
man edition,  and  one  of  its  features  was  the  reproduction, 
on  a  reduced  scale,  of  illustrations  in  foreign  periodicals. 
Among  its  artists  were  Joseph  Becker,  Albert  Berghaus 
and  Georgiana  A.  Davis  (who  in  recent  years  drew  for 
the  Salvation  Army's  "War  Cry").  There  must  be 
noted  also  the  "  New  York  Illustrated  News  "  (volumes 
1-6,  1859-62),  with  A.  R.  Waud,  Lumley,  Eytinge  and 
Nast.  The  "  Southern  Illustrated  News  "  (beginning  in 
1862),  like  the  Palmetto  series  of  schoolbooks  or  the 
novels  by  Clara  Miihlbach  issued  in  wall-paper  covers, 
marked  the  brave  attempt  of  the  South  to  cultivate  the 


2i6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

finer  and  gentler  arts  of  peace  under  adverse  circumstances, 
in  the  stress  of  battle  for  a  separate  national  existence. 

In  the  seventies  and  eighties  New  York  even  had  a 
daily  illustrated  paper,  the  "  Daily  Graphic,"  for  which 
Fernando  Miranda  drew  cartoons,  and  which  got  the  early 
work  of  some  illustrators  to  become  more  noted  later: 
Frost,  E.  W.  Kemble,  C.  D.  Weldon.  Philip  G.  Cusachs, 
a  prolific  and  rapid  worker,  was  at  one  time  art-manager 
of  this  publication;  photo-lithography  was  the  reproduc- 
tive process  used.  Later,  S.  H.  Horgan,  I  am  told, 
brought  out  in  the  same  publication  the  first  half-tone 
published  in  a  daily. 

As  for  the  daily  newspaper,  there  were  occasional  cuts 
in  the  "  Atlas  "(1842),  "  Mercury  "  and  "  Herald,"  and 
Valerian  Gribayedoff,  in  his  article  on  "  Pictorial  Journal- 
ism "  ("Cosmopolitan,"  1896),  notes  that  the  "Pitts- 
burgh Telegraph"  in  1875  commenced  using  woodcuts 
in  its  Saturday  issue.  But  illustration  as  a  regular  feature 
of  the  daily  press  came  with  the  founding  of  "  Truth  " 
(New  York)  in  1877.  However,  that  was  not  yet  illus- 
tration of  current  events  as  we  understand  it  to-day,  for 
as  it  took  the  engraver  two  or  three  days  to  turn  out  a 
cut  by  the  "  soft  metal  process,"  he  placed  on  hand  a 
series  of  stock  illustrations,  used  again  and  again.  In 
1883  illustration  was  tried  by  ^' The  World"  (New 
York) ,  with  which  Gribayedoff  came  into  contact  the 
following  year.  From  this  starting  point  development 
came.  Other  papers  followed  suit,  as  well  as  the  Ameri- 
can Press  Association,  with  S.  H.  Horgan  as  art  man- 
ager.    Among   the   newspaper   artists   of   the   following 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  217 

years  were  H.  Coultaus  and  J.  Knickerbocker  of  the 
"  New  York  Herald,"  and  John  Durkin  and  O.  H.  von 
Gottschalk  of  the  "  Sun."  To-day  the  number  is  large 
indeed,  even  if  we  except  the  comic  artists.  To  the  zinc 
etching,  much  used,  there  has  been  added  the  half-tone, 
with  results  often  questionable  in  effect,  but  speedy  of 
attainment.  The  "  Ben  Day  "  process  of  quick  mechan- 
ical production  of  tints  by  "  rapid  shading  mediums  "  has 
also  been  a  time-saver. 

But  if,  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  nineteenth  century, — 
from  which  I  had  momentarily  strayed, — the  illustrations 
in  newspapers  were  practically  non-existent,  we  did  have 
the  occasional  "  blanket  sheet  "  of  one  issue.  Such  a  one 
was  that  brought  out  during  the  Mexican  War,  "  Brother 
Jonathan:  Great  Pictorial  Battle  Sheet"  (New  York, 
1847).  This  was  an  amusing  mixture  of  bona-fide  por- 
traits of  American  generals,  and  French  and  other  foreign 
cuts  appropriated  to  do  duty  as  delineations  of  Mexican 
life.  These  pictures  of  French  cuirassiers  and  Italian 
brigands  posing  as  Mexican  soldiers  and  civilians  consti- 
tute as  pretty  an  example  as  one  could  find  of  the  bare- 
faced "  fake." 

In  the  literature  relating  to  the  Civil  War  which  ap- 
peared during  and  soon  after  that  great  struggle,  the 
names  of  Alfred  R.  and  William  Waud,  Christian  Schus- 
sele,  T.  R.  Davis,  Arthur  Lumley,  F.  B.  Schell  often 
appeared,  the  last  two  mentioned  being  artist  correspond- 
ents in  the  field,  as  was  also  Winslow  Homer,  whose 
originality  was  foreshadowed  in  this  early  work.  No 
doubt  engravers  and  artists  often  had  to  work  against 


2i8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

time  in  those  troublous  days,  but  it  was  probably  good 
schooling.  A  scrap-book  of  pencil  drawings  made  in  the 
field  by  Frank  Leslie's  artists,  to  be  redrawn  on  the  block 
in  the  home  office,  shows  in  an  interesting  manner  under 
what  conditions  the  work  was  done  and  what  short-hand 
cuts  the  artists  made  for  the  "  re-drawers." 

With  peace  assured  there  came  improvement  in  the 
reproduction  of  illustrations  by  wood-engraving,  referred 
to  in  the  chapter  on  that  art,  where  the  influence  of  "  Pic- 
turesque America"  (1872-74)  Is  duly  noted.  In  that 
work  the  landscape  artists  had  their  opportunity,  partic- 
ularly Thomas  Moran,  Harry  Fenn  and  J.  D.  Wood- 
ward. Fenn  was  the  suggester  and  principal  illustrator 
of  the  publication  and  was  prominently  identified  also 
with  "  Picturesque  Europe  "  and  "  Picturesque  Palestine," 
beside  executing  the  widely  known  designs  for  Whittier's 
"  Ballads  of  New  England,"  1870,  and  "  Snow-Bound," 
1 88 1.  Woodward's  sure,  skilful  pencil  was  so  much  In 
demand  that  In  1881  he  wrote  to  T.  D.  Sugden  that  he 
,  was  "  driven  within  an  Inch  of  my  life."  Other  artists 
identified  with  landscape  art  were  Henry  Bisbing,  who 
later  removed  to  Paris  to  paint,  and  John  A.  Hows 
("Forest  Scenes,"  1864,  and  "Forest  Pictures  in  the 
Adirondacks,"  1865).  The  latter  drew  for  "  Appleton's 
Journal"  (begun  1869),  in  the  pages  of  which  we  find 
also  the  signatures  of  R.  S.  Gifford,  Granville  Perkins 
(with  marine  subjects  as  his  specialty),  J.  Hill,  E.  Forbes, 
A.  C.  Warren,  Thomas  Hogan  (long  associated  with 
Frank  H.  Schell),  W.  M.  Cary  (scenes  of  Western  life), 
W.  L.  Sheppard  (illustrator  of  John  Esten  Cooke's  novels 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  219 

and  of  Carlton  McCarthy's  "Life  in  the  C.  S.  A."), 
Frank  Beard,  Alfred  Kappes  (a  painter  of  negro  pic- 
tures, with  a  virile  understanding  of  his  subject).  Will 
H.  Low,  Charles  G.  Bush  (who  drew  also  for  the  Har- 
pers), Winslow  Homer,  Mary  A.  Hallock  (later  Mrs. 
Foote),  Paul  Frenzeny,  Darley  and  W.  J.  Hennessy. 
The  last-named  illustrated  J.  G.  Holland,  Mrs.  Brown- 
ing, Longfellow,  Stedman  and  Tennyson ;  his  twelve  draw- 
ings of  Edwin  Booth  in  as  many  characters,  engraved 
by  W.  J.  Linton,  1872,  are  perhaps  as  well  known  as 
any  of  his  work.  At  about  the  same  time  there  were 
running  "Every  Saturday,"  "Our  Young  Folks"  (Bos- 
ton, 1865-73),  the  "Riverside  Magazine"  (1867-70), 
and  "  Scribner's  Magazine"  (begun  1871).  With  en- 
larging opportunities  came  an  increasing  number  of  illus- 
trators. Beside  those  just  mentioned  there  were  E.  B. 
Bensell,  J.  McNevin,  W.  Momberger,  Thomas  Nast 
(illustrations  for  "Robinson  Crusoe"),  L  Pranischni- 
koff.  Sol  Eytinge,  Jr.,  drew  illustrations  for  Dickens, 
which  won  the  praise  of  that  author,  and  for  Lowell's 
"  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  and  became  particularly  well 
known  through  the  mellow,  kindly  humor  of  his  scenes 
from  negro  life. 

There  came  also  the  entrance  of  women  artists  into 
this  field.  Among  the  earliest  were  Lucy  Gibbons,  Jessie 
Curtis  (subsequently  Mrs.  Shepherd),  the  dainty  but 
undistinguished  Addie  Ledyard  and  Mary  A.  Hallock 
(later  Mrs.  Foote),  who  illustrated  books  by  Longfel- 
low, Hawthorne  and  herself.  Female  illustrators  a 
little  later,  in  the  eighties  and  nineties,  included  M.  L.  D. 


220  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Watson,  Irene  E.  Jerome  ("Nature's  Hallelujah,"  1886, 
"The  Message  of  the  Bluebird,"  1886;  drawings  of 
birds  and  flowers),  Mrs.  Jessie  McDermott  Walcott 
(child  subjects),  Allegra  Eggleston  (daughter  of  Ed- 
ward), Helen  Rosa  Lossing  ("H.  Rosa";  daughter  of 
Benson  J.),  L.  B.  Humphrey,  L.  J.  Bridgman,  Mrs. 
Allingham,  Maud  Humphreys,  not  a  few  of  them  weak 
or  at  most  pleasingly  pretty  in  their  work.  Both  Mrs. 
Alice  Barber  Stephens  and  Mrs.  Foote,  through  the 
breadth  and  vigor  of  their  drawings,  stand  out  from  the 
rest.  They  connect  directly  with  the  present  day,  where 
we  see  Blanche  Ostertag,  Sarah  S.  Stilwell  Weber,  May 
Wilson  Preston  (with  the  unrestrained  manner  of 
.Glackens),  Mrs.  Rose  O'Neill  Wilson  (whose  style  com- 
bines a  pleasing  charm  with  unctuous  breadth),  and  those 
clever  products  of  the  influence  of  Pyle, — Elizabeth 
Shippen  Green,  Violet  Oakley,  Charlotte  Harding  and 
Jessie  Willcox  Smith  (children  a  specialty)  exemplifying 
the  various  possibilities  resulting  from  the  application 
of  the  female  temperament  to  the  problems  of  illustration. 

This  diversion,  brought  about  by  the  all  too  conveni- 
ent classification  by  sex,  was  of  course  anachronistic.  We 
are  supposed  to  be  still  in  the  seventies,  and  there  are 
yet  to  be  noted  some  designs  drawn  for  reproduction  by 
John  La  Farge,  scenes  from  the  Arabian  Nights  and  the 
"Wolf  Charmer"  (which  he  later  repeated  in  oils), 
personal,  unconventional  yet  balanced,  as  all  of  this 
thoughtful  artist's  work  was  bound  to  be. 

And  during  all  these  years,  the  domain  of  the  school- 
book  was  exploited  and  developed  to  a  noteworthy  ex- 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  221 

tent.  George  G.  White,  Henry  F.  Farny,  Alfred  Fred- 
ericks and  others  signed  the  woodcut  illustrations  in  the 
readers  over  which  many  of  us  pored  at  school.  The 
preface  of  E.  J.  Lewis's  "American  Sportsman,"  1857, 
in  which  White  made  his  debut,  emphasized  his  ability 
as  a  delineator  of  animals.  He  had  a  leaning  toward 
the  style  of  Sir  John  Gilbert,  and  eventually  became  con- 
nected with  "  sporting  "  and  religious  publications. 

The  influence  of  the  illustrated  press  continued,  quite 
naturally.  Henry  James,  in  "  Harper's  Weekly,"  June 
14,  1890,  wrote  of  the  "  art  of  illustration  in  black  and 
white,  to  which  American  periodical  literature  has  lately 
given  such  an  impetus,  and  which  has  returned  the  good 
office  by  conferring  a  great  distinction  on  our  magazines." 
And  Joseph  Pennell,  in  his  book  on  pen  drawings,  says, 
in  the  section  on  America :  "  The  principal  credit  for  this 
development  must  be  ascribed  to  the  intelligent  support 
which  Mr.  A.  W.  Drake,  the  art  editor  of  the  Century, 
then  Scribner's  Monthly,  was  the  first  to  give  to  the  group 
of  young  men  who,  about  this  time,  returned  from  a 
course  of  several  years'  study  in  Munich  with  the  idea 
of  revolutionizing  art  in  America." 

Late  in  the  seventies,  too,  came  that  new  movement 
in  wood-engraving,  emphasized  with  especial  eclat  in 
Juengling's  cuts  after  James  E.  Kelly's  remarkably  free 
drawings  for  "  Scribner's."  In  these  Kelly  designs,  the 
line  was  absent;  it  was  painted  illustration,  which  we 
see  in  preponderance  to-day,  and  it  set  problems  for  the 
engravers  which  were  quite  in  line  with  the  tendency  to 
insist  on  tones  and  masses.     And  yet  the  eighties  brought 


222  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

not  only  a  remarkable  development  of  illustration,  em- 
bracing the  most  brilliant  group  of  men,  as  a  group,  that 
we  ever  had,  but  there  came  a  widespread  employment 
of  the  very  medium  which  is  essentially  and  incisively 
expressed  in  line, — pen-and-ink. 

This  artistic  exploitation  of  the  possibilities  of  the  pen 
was  exemplified  in  the  work  of  a  number  of  capable 
artists,  notably  Abbey,  C.  S.  Reinhart,  Alfred  Brennan, 
W.  T.  Smedley  and  Joseph  Pennell,  who  gives  discrim- 
inating technical  consideration  of  a  number  of  them  in 
his  helpful  book  on  "  Pen  Drawing  and  Pen  Draughts- 
men "  (1889).  Pennell's  book,  by  the  way,  is  dedicated 
"  to  A.  W.  Drake,  W.  Lewis  Eraser,  Charles  Parsons, 
Richmond  Seeley,  four  men  who  should  be  honored  for 
their  encouragement  of  pen  drawing,"  this  list  of  four 
including  three  Americans. 

Edwin  A.  Abbey,  "  endowed,"  as  Miss  E.  L.  Cary 
says,  "  with  the  instinct  for  the  exquisite  and  the  old," 
reconstructed  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  for 
us  in  his  drawings  for  "  Old  Songs  "  and  Goldsmith's 
*'  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  "  with  a  vividness  and  grace 
that  quite  obliterate  the  preparatory  labor  of  his  historical 
and  antiquarian  studies.  Furthermore,  the  light,  caress- 
ing strokes  of  his  pen  graphically  illustrated  the  easy 
craftsmanship,  the  finest  technique,  which  attains  its  re- 
sult with  no  trace  of  effort.  "  For  grace  and  refine- 
ment," wrote  Pennell,  "  he  ranks  second  to  none  " ;  those 
were  indeed  the  salient  characteristics  of  his  drawings. 
That  appears  also  In  his  famous  Shakespeare  illustrations, 
in  which  W.  H.  Downes  found  refinement,  tenderness, 


From  "Harper's  Magazine."     Copyright  1908.  by  Harper  A  Brothers 

"There  Never  Was  Anything  the  Least  Serious  Between  Us" 
Illustration  for  Henry  James's  "Julia  Bride,"  by  W.  T.  Smedley 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  223 

grace,  rather  than  dramatic  force  or  grandeur.  Human 
character  eluded  him  in  a  measure.  Large  human  sym- 
pathies he  did  not  express.  "  The  characters  of  Shakes- 
peare," writes  Samuel  Isham,  "  have  become  intimate 
personal  friends;  we  are  not  to  be  put  off  with  a  jeweled 
stomacher,  or  an  Italian  terrace.  Abbey  did  as  well  as 
any  one  has  ever  done,  and  gave  us  a  series  of  graceful 
figures."  Yet  there  is  a  charm,  an  atmosphere  in  all  his 
work  that  saves  it  from  being  a  cold  record  of  antiquarian 
facts,  and  to  the  artist  it  is  a  delight  in  its  command  of 
the  medium. 

Quite  different  in  character  is  the  work  of  Charles 
Stanley  Reinhart,  in  whom  a  forceful  directness  was 
joined  to  what  some  one  has  described  as  a  "  quick  grasp 
and  holding  of  characteristics  of  various  national  and 
social  types."  This  last  point  is  emphasized  in  the  arti- 
cle on  Reinhart  by  Henry  James  ("  Harper's  Weekly," 
June  14,  1890):  "He  likes  to  represent  characteristics, 
— ^he  rejoices  in  the  specifying  touch."  For  C.  D.  War- 
ner's "Their  Pilgrimage"  (1886)  he  furnished  what 
James  termed  a  "  rich  and  curious  pictorial  accompani- 
ment," and  his  numerous  designs  for  G.  P.  Lathrop's 
"  Spanish  Vistas  "  are  set  down  by  the  same  authority 
as  "  delightful  notes  of  an  artist's  quest  of  the  sketch- 
able." 

In  contrast  to  the  incisive  rich  blacks  of  Reinhart's  tech- 
nique is  the  more  suave,  repressed  method  of  W.  T. 
Smedley,  a  method  in  harmony  with  the  manners  of  the 
well-bred,  comfortable  middle  class  which  he  has  depicted 
with  particularly  happy  seizure  of  essential  nature.     He 


224  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

has  had  a  keen  eye  for  the  individualities  which  the  monot- 
onous sameness  of  fashionable  attire  often  veils,  as  well 
as  for  the  character  that  the  very  fit  of  the  clothes  them- 
selves discloses  to  the  observant  eye.  This  same  sym- 
pathetic and  subtle  psychological  analysis  penetrating  the 
social  attitude  of  well-mannered  people  is  carried  also 
into  his  painted  portraits  with  a  quiet  effectiveness  that 
brings  us  close  to  his  sitters  and  enlists  our  human  interest. 
It  is  a  different  class  that  has  been  pictured  with  par- 
ticular success  by  A.  B.  Frost,  that  of  our  farming  dis- 
tricts. Joel  Chandler  Harris  said  of  him  ( 1904)  :  "  The 
one  characteristic  that  marks  all  the  work  of  Mr.  Frost, 
the  one  quality  that  stands  out  above  the  rest,  is  its  per- 
sistent and  ever-present  humor."  But  this  humor  was 
expressed  through  a  genial  sympathy  for  his  subjects,  so 
that  we  get  real  people  in  his  drawings,  people  whose 
nature  meets  our  sympathy  and  interest,  and  not  the  fool- 
ish "  rube  "  of  the  comic  sheets.  Frost  has,  as  H.  C. 
Bunner  puts  it,  "  the  charm  of  a  convincing  naturalness  " 
("Harper's  Magazine,"  October,  1892).  In  his  col- 
lection of  drawings  "  Sports  and  Games  in  the  Open  " 
(1899),  with  their  joy  in  out-door  life,  we  feel  this  same 
whole-souled,  kindly  absorption  in  the  point-of-view  of 
the  characters  whom  he  despicts.  Robert  Bridges,  writ- 
ing of  Frost  in  the  "  Book-Buyer,"  March,  1894,  quotes 
F.  Hopkinson  Smith  as  saying  that  "  no  man  laughs 
effectively  with  pen  or  brush  who  does  not  laugh  with 
his  own  soul  first."  He  illustrated,  with  much  finish, 
A.  W.  Tourgee's  "  Hot  Plowshares  "  (1883),  but  better 
known,  more  spontaneous,  more  the  outcome  of  his  na- 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  225 

ture,  are  his  little  drawings  for  F.  R.  Stockton's  "  Rud- 
der Range."  His  delightful  treatment  of  two  such  dif- 
ferent books  as  H.  C.  Bunner's  "  Story  of  a  New  York 
House  "  and  "  Uncle  Remus  "  is  also  to  be  noted.  In 
delineating  various  types  of  American  life  he  came  across 
the  negro  at  various  times,  his  Music  for  the  Dance 
and  a  negro  version  of  "  the  ant  and  the  cricket  "  being 
his  most  characteristic  efforts  in  that  field  that  I  have 
seen. 

The  black  man  was  particularly  cultivated  by  Edward 
W.  Kemble  ("Uncle  Tom's  Cabin").  Furthermore, 
in  the  apportionment  of  specialties,  J.  O.  Davidson, — 
of  whom  F.  Hopkinson  Smith,  I  think,  said  he  "  knows 
our  ships,  especially  the  older  ones,  as  no  other  artist 
knows  them," — M.  J.  Burns  and  F.  S.  Cozzens  became 
identified  with  the  sea  and  its  ships;  J.  Carter  Beard  with 
animal  life;  and  William  Hamilton  Gibson  with  animal 
and  plant  life.  Gibson  used  pen  and  pencil  in  a  number 
of  volumes  ("  Sharp  Eyes,"  "  Happy  Hunting  Grounds," 
"Pastoral  Days")  to  familiarize  a  larger  public  in  a 
charming  and  graceful  manner  with  characteristic  features 
of  that  life  and  with  "  the  idyllic  qualities  of  nature,"  as 
Horace  E.  Scudder  put  it  in  the  "  Book  Buyer,"  February, 
1888.  Gilbert  Gaul,  H.  A.  Ogden  (with  Revolutionary 
times  as  a  sub-specialty),  W.  H.  Shelton,  Rufus  F.  Zog- 
baum  and  Thure  de  Thulstrup  illustrated  military  life. 
Zogbaum's  work  has  a  certain  stiffness  of  drawing  some- 
what appropriate  in  the  delineation  of  humanity  drilled 
into  the  impersonahty  of  the  soldier,  whom  he  has  de- 
scribed for  us  with  pen  and  pencil.     As  for  Thulstrup, 


226  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

though  he  has  seemed  most  at  home  in  military  art,  he 
has  had  to  treat  the  most  varied  subjects,  and  has  acquitted 
himself  well,  thanks  to  his  good  and  facile  draughtsman- 
ship, his  easy  command  of  materials. 

The  West  was  pre-eminently  the  domain  of  Frederic 
Remington,  who  delineated  its  military  types,  frontiers- 
men, cowboys  and  Indians  with  a  vehement  realism  and 
uncompromising  fidelity,  an  unbiased  and  breezy  freshness 
of  original  perception  that  were  fascinating.  His  lan- 
guage was  always  to  the  point,  even  when  not  quite  ade- 
quate, as  possibly  in  some  foreign  military  types. 
"  What  makes  Remington's  Indian  sketches  so  real  and 
so  fine,"  wrote  one  critic,  "  is  that  he  knows  it  all  him- 
self." And  Mrs.  Schuyler  Van  Rensselaer,  reviewing  his 
illustrations  for  the  "  Song  of  Hiawatha  "  (1890),  said: 
"  Remington  is  always  sincere,  spirited,  individual  and 
interesting." 

One  could  not  find  a  much  greater  contrast  to  Rem- 
ington's rough-and-ready  use  of  pen-and-ink  than  Alfred 
Brennan's  loving  and  insinuating  courtship  of  the  same 
medium.  Pennell  wrote  that  he  "  most  certainly  was 
and  is  the  master  of  this  school  of  American  draughts- 
men," the  school  referred  to  being  a  group  showing  "  in- 
telligent adaptation  of  the  methods  of  Fortuny,  Rico  and 
Vierge,  of  the  artists  of  '  Fliegende  Blatter,'  and  of 
the  draughtsmen  of  Japan."  Those  were  the  days  when 
Frederick  Lungren  showed  **  great  power  of  expression 
conveyed  with  very  few  and  simple  lines."  Robert  F. 
Blum  drew  stunning  Fortuny-like  things  such  as  his  por- 
trait of  Joseph  Jefferson  as  "  Bob  Acres,"  and  Reginald 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  227 

B.  Birch,  in  his  illustrations  for  "  Little  Lord  Fauntle- 
roy,"  combined  charm  and  sweetness  and  the  artistic  sense 
in  a  noteworthy  manner.  Brennan,  who  had  a  vein  of 
extravagant  fancy,  was  described  as  "  unconventional  and 
often  startling,"  and  again  ("New  York  Tribune,"  Oc- 
tober 16,  1 891)  as  "an  assiduous  cultivator  of  whimsi- 
cality as  a  fine  art."  He  injected  a  quite  personal  ele- 
ment into  whatever  he  did,  a  peculiar  flavor  which  per- 
vaded even  when  he  was  simply  re-drawing  a  photograph. 
Pennell  comments  thus  on  a  drawing  of  a  stairway: 
*'  There  is  nothing  stupid  and  nothing  photographic,  and 
yet  it  was  made  from  a  photograph." 

In  those  days,  photographs  were  not  rendered  directly 
in  half-tone;  they  were  re-drawn  in  pen-and-ink,  and  this 
work  was  done  by  men  such  as  Kenyon  Cox,  Otto  H. 
Bacher,  Wiles,  Thulstrup,  Farny.  I  remember  even 
some  small  pictures  of  golf-sticks,  carefully  delineated  by 
W.  H.  Drake  for  the  "  Century  "  in  1892. 

There  are  plenty  more  names  of  illustrators  who  were 
actively  engaged  in  this  period  of  the  eighties:  E.  H. 
Garrett,  Frank  T.  Merrill,  Henry  Sandham  (Canadian 
subjects),  Frank  M.  Gregory  ("Faust,"  1888),  Fred- 
erick Dielman  (Susan  Warner's  "Wide,  Wide  World," 
1888,  and  "Queechy,"  1893),  Charles  Graham,  W.  A. 
Rogers,  Henry  F.  Farny  (finely  drawn  bits  of  Indian 
life),  C.  A.  Vanderhoof,  Alfred  Fredericks.  John  W. 
Alexander  drew  some  noteworthy  portraits, — that  of 
Walt  Whitman,  for  instance. 

The  general  field  of  illustration  at  that  time  is  covered 
in  chatty  and  genial  comment  in  F.  Hopkinson  Smith's 


228  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

"American  Illustrators"  (1892),  while  individual  fig- 
ures were  considered  in  a  series  of  articles  in  the  "  Book 
Buyer,"  in  1893-4,  on  Church,  Smedley,  Sterner,  Kemble, 
Wiles,  Remington,  Gibson  and  others. 

In  the  nineties,  B.  West  CHnedinst,  H.  Denman,  Eric 
Pape,  Charles  Copeland,  Charles  Broughton,  H.  C.  Ed- 
wards, W.  Granville  Smith  and  Andre  Castaigne  in 
various  ways  answered  to  the  demand  for  illustra- 
tion. 

Many  of  the  artists  named  were  professional  illustra- 
tors, entirely  devoted  to  their  specialty.  But  some  were 
painters  who  placed  themselves  at  the  service  of  the  sister 
art  for  a  limited  period  or  occasionally.  Among  these 
was  also  Walter  Shirlaw,  who  in  his  drawings  for  Edward 
Eggleston's  "  Roxy,"  or  in  such  magazine  illustrations  as 
those  picturing  rolling  mills  (a  subject  that  attracted  the 
painters  Menzel  in  Germany  and  John  F.  Weir  in  this 
country),  carried  into  the  duodecimo  or  octavo  page  his 
predilection  for  rich,  succulent  tones  and  broad  decorative 
effects.  Pennell  finds  that  he  "  gave  some  of  the  most 
artistic  renderings  of  commonplace  things  ever  produced 
in  America."  In  what  one  writer  (F.  J.  Mather,  Jr., 
I  think)  calls  the  "  shifting  membership  "  of  the  craft, 
there  were  temporarily  enlisted  also  such  painters  as 
Childe  Hassam,  Irving  R.  Wiles,  W.  L.  Metcalf,  E.  W. 
Deming,  Francis  Day  and  E.  H.  Blashfield,  who  em- 
phasized pictorially  the  results  of  antiquarian  and  his- 
torical research,  in  "  Italian  Cities,"  by  Mrs.  Blashfield 
and  himself. 

Three  noteworthy  instances  of  an  incursion  by  a  painter 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  229 

Into  the  domain  of  illustration  are  found  in  Kenyon  Cox's 
pictures  for  Rossetti's  "  Blessed  Damozel "  (which 
Julian  Hawthorne,  in  the  "World,"  N.  Y.,  1886,  pro- 
nounced as  "  of  singular  merit"),  Will  H.  Low's  "  illus- 
trative designs  "  for  the  "  Lamia  "  of  Keats  (1885),  ^"^ 
Elihu  Vedder's  accompaniment  of  drawings  for  the 
Rubaiyat  of  Omar  Khayyam  (1884).  The  last-named, 
beside  their  merit  and  value  as  illustrative  drawings,  gain 
much  also  from  the  circumstance  that  each  page  of  the 
book  is  drawn,  text  as  well  as  the  surrounding  design, 
by  the  same  hand.  That  emphasizes  the  advantage  and 
importance  of  having  the  book,  as  a  mechanical  product, 
one  connected  whole,  "  cast  in  one  piece."  Text  and  illus- 
trations are  thus  in  harmony,  instead  of  having  the  latter 
in  no  relation  to  the  type,  a  separateness  emphasized  to- 
day by  the  frequent  appearance  of  the  plate  as  something 
extraneous  to  the  book,  on  a  sheet  of  different  paper  to 
hold  the  half-tone,  tipped  in  loosely  and  coming  out  all 
too  easily. 

This  matter  of  unity  in  the  design  of  a  book  was 
exemplified  in  a  measure  also  by  the  1887  edition  of 
"  Odes  and  Sonnets  "  by  Keats,  for  which  W.  H.  Low 
designed  not  only  illustrations, — in  which,  said  the  "  New 
York  Tribune"  of  December  13,  1887,  he  "approached 
his  difficult  task  in  a  spirit  of  perfect  sympathy  and  sin- 
cerity,"— and  decorative  floral  panels  for  each  page,  but 
the  cover  and  lining  papers  as  well.  Illustration  as  a 
decorative  element  was  emphasized  also  in  the  thousand 
marginal  drawings  for  "Ben  Hur "  (1891)  by  Wm. 
Martin  Johnson,  and  the  same  artist's  decorative  borders 


230  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

for  Reade's  "The  Cloister  and  the  Hearth"  (1893),  as 
also  in  Albert  Herter's  illustrations  and  cover  designs  for 
Cable's  "  Creole  Days "  and  "  Grandissimes."  And 
there  was  Ludvig  Sandoe  Ipsen's  charming  work  in  an 
edition  of  Mrs.  Browning's  "Love  Sonnets"  (1886), 
which  has  been  described  as  a  magnificent  piece  of  decora- 
tive book-making;  "  Nothing  like  this  has  ever  been  done 
in  this  country  before,"  wrote  R.  H.  Stoddard  at  the 
time.  It  was  indeed  a  time  of  holiday  books  and  sumptu- 
ously illustrated  editions,  graced  by  the  work  of  George 
Wharton  Edwards  (Spenser's  "  Epithalamion,"  1895), 
Childe  Hassam,  Wm.  St.  John  Harper  (Keat's  "  Endy- 
mion,"  1888)  and  W.  L.  Taylor  (Owen  Meredith's 
"The  Earl's  Return,"  1886,  Tennyson's  "Holy  Grail," 
1887).  There  was,  too,  the  archaizing  effect  of  the 
designs  made  by  the  brothers  Rhead — George  W.,  Fred- 
erick and  Louis — for  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  (1898). 

The  facile  entrance  of  painters  into  this  field  indicates 
influences  at  work  which  characterize  our  book-illustration 
in  these  later  days.  The  freedom  in  the  choice  of 
materials  and  in  the  size  of  the  original  drawing  which 
the  artist  gained  through  the  method  of  photographing 
the  drawing  on  to  the  wood  block  and  through  the  sub- 
sequent use  of  the  half-tone,  would  naturally  draw  the 
painter  occasionally  into  the  service  of  the  sister  art. 
On  the  other  hand,  this  same  circumstance  would  lead 
the  illustrator  to  the  use  of  paint  and  brush,  so  that  the 
line  of  demarcation  between  illustrator  and  painter  be- 
came perhaps  less  clearly  defined. 

The  continued  activity  of  various  illustrators  who  came 


I'rom    'Harper's  Majrazine."     Copyri^'lit  IVOI.  by  Harper  A  Brotherii 

Viewing  the  Battle  of  Bunkkx  Hill 
IJv  Howard  Pvie 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  231 

into  notice  in  the  last  fifteen  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury brings  us  to  the  present  time. 

A  particularly  noteworthy  connecting  link  between  the 
last  generation  and  the  present  was  Lloward  Pyle.  Not 
only  by  reason  of  his  thirty  years  of  prominent  attainment, 
but  also  through  the  alertness  of  his  point  of  view  and 
his  serious  attitude  toward  his  art,  which  gave  him  pre- 
eminence until  the  day  of  his  death.  A  realist  always; 
yet  his  realism,  while  stern,  was  never  crass.  With  a 
style  that  seemed  at  first  sight  inflexible  he  combined  a 
keenness  of  observation  that  served  him  in  the  treatment 
of  scenes  in  widely  different  lands,  times  and  strata  of 
society.  "  Versatile,"  one  would  say,  were  there  not  the 
fear  of  a  by-taste,  in  that  term,  of  glib  facility, — partic- 
ularly foreign  to  him.  The  periods  and  subjects  which 
he  covered  were  varied  indeed:  seventeenth  century  Eng- 
land and  France,  the  American  Revolution  and  our  Civil 
War,  buccaneers,  Robin  Rood,  the  divers  and  fishermen 
of  our  coasts  and  Holmes's  "  One  Hoss  Shay "  and 
*'  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table."  For  a  time  he  was 
his  own  author,  seemingly  equally  at  home  whether  writ- 
ing of  Robin  Hood  for  boys,  or  recounting  in  vivid 
terms  the  exploits  of  "  The  Buccaneers  and  Marooners 
of  America"  (1890).  "Nowhere,"  wrote  Hopkinson 
Smith,  "  have  I  seen  text  better  idealized  or  illustrations 
better  described  than  in  that  series  of  articles  by  Pyle  on 
the  *  Buccaneers.'  "  As  Samuel  Isham  says :  "  Surely  never 
before  were  pirates  so  satisfactorily  bloody-minded  offered 
for  the  delectation  of  youth."  His  picture  of  a  seaman 
marooned  sticks  in  the  memory  with  all  the  pounding 


232  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

emphasis  of  its  simple  dramatic  force.  Pyle  became  par- 
ticularly identified  with  the  authoritative  illustration  of 
eighteenth  century  America.  To  quote  Isham  again: 
"  Pyle  is  the  only  man  who  seems  to  know  thoroughly 
the  colonial  and  revolutionary  epoch.  .  .  .  He  has 
represented  the  founders  of  the  Republic  as  they  were, — 
sturdy,  hard-headed  folk,  with  strong  characters  and  few 
graces,  who  wore  the  rather  rigid  costumes  of  the  time 
with  dignity  and  not  like  singers  in  comic  opera  or  danc- 
ing masters."  His  careful  historical  correctness  was  free 
from  possible  pedantry  through  the  success  with  which 
he  projected  himself  into  time,  place  and  spirit  of  each 
scene  that  he  portrayed.  Pyle  came  down  full  into  the 
present  period,  preserving  to  the  end  a  steadfast,  virile 
thoroughness  in  his  extraction  and  presentation  of  essen- 
tial characteristics.  Moreover,  his  use  of  the  pen,  with 
an  archaic  flavor  that  caused  Pennell  to  characterize  him 
as  "  a  careful  student  of  Duerer,"  was  pretty  well  aban- 
doned, later  on,  for  that  of  the  brush.  He  painted  his 
illustrations;  that  fact,  in  itself,  brings  him  in  touch  with 
the  younger  men  of  this  day,  who  are  to  a  great  extent 
availing  themselves  of  this  method  of  working  for  repro- 
duction. 

Yet  one  of  the  first  men  to  come  to  mind  among  our 
illustrators  of  the  present  time,  Charles  Dana  Gibson,  has 
used  pen-and-ink  almost  exclusively,  and  has  in  its  use 
achieved  his  finest  successes.  From  his  earlier  manner, 
in  which  he  delineated  Bishop  Gullem,  Jonathan  Trump, 
Penelope  Peachblow  and  Dolly  Flicker  in  various  com- 
binations to  fit  evanescent  jokes  in  the  comic  press,  with 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  233 

close-set  lines  to  form  tones  and  local  color,  he  developed 
into  a  free  insistence  on  the  line  per  se.  His  command 
of  the  pen  to-day  is  eminently  noteworthy;  he  has  used  it 
rarely  in  illustration  proper,  usually  in  what  for  lack  of 
a  better  term  has  been  called  "  cartooning."  A  woman 
art  critic  once  said  of  him,  "  As  a  chronicler  of  well-bred 
American  life  Mr.  Gibson  stands  easily  first,"  and  the 
Gibson  Girl,  that  rare  creature  of  his  fancy — which,  as 
shown  in  "  The  American  Girl  Abroad,"  won  enthusiastic 
praise  in  the  "  Zeitschrift  fiir  Bildende  Kunst "  as  far 
back  as  1897 — still  weaves  her  spell.  But  Gibson  has 
broadened  out  enough  from  that  to  widen  his  outlook 
on  humanity.  There  is  added  force  and  truth  in  his  work 
when  he  enters  more  clearly  the  field  of  pictorial  comment 
and  with  a  smile  presents  humanity,  particularly  in  this 
country  ("  Americans,"  1900),  in  its  failings  and  virtues, 
its  love  and  its  sadness.  He  has  done  this  in  continued 
performances  such  as  the  "  Education  of  Mr.  Pipp " 
(1899)  and  in  single  leaves  from  the  book  of  life,  scenes 
in  drawing-room  and  street,  on  ferry  boat  and  in  the 
world  of  the  stage,  with  gentle  humor, — satire  were  al- 
most too  strong  a  word.  The  point  is  made  by  insisting 
enough  on  the  obvious  not  to  trouble  the  beholder  with 
too  much  subtlety  of  thought  or  observation.  And  the 
manner  of  presentation,  the  technique,  somehow,  is  also 
so  obviously  adequate  as  to  satisfy  both  the  average  citi- 
zen and  the  artist  or  connoisseur. 

The  "  American  girl "  and  her  entourage  has  engaged 
the  attention  of  more  thaa  one  illustrator.  Howard 
Chandler  Christy  (Christy  book  for  J9o6;  "The  Amer- 


234  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

ican  Girl"),  A.  B.  Wenzell,  Henry  Hutt,  Harrison 
Fisher  are  prominent  figures  in  a  group  which  strongly 
represents  certain  tendencies  and  characteristics  of  present- 
day  illustration.  Extraordinary  technical  facility  is  put 
to  the  task  of  evoking  visions  of  types  of  girl  and  man, 
ideals  of  stately  elegance  and  statuesquely  athletic  vigor 
that  appeal  to  many.  Perhaps  they  are  gratified  to  feel 
themselves  part  of  an  imaginary  world  of  such  remarkable 
paragons  of  physical  and  mental  excellence.  It  puts  the 
beholder  in  a  wonderful  land  where  all  is  "  swell,"  where 
beauty  and  luxury  reign,  a  sort  of  enchanted  isle  without 
the  sensuous  languor  of  Cythere.  A  round  of  sumptuous 
drawing-rooms  and  opera  boxes  and  fine  functions,  with 
an  air  of  "  upper  ten  "  gaiety  and  the  fine  perfume  of 
the  automobile  pervading  it  all.  This  long  array  of 
American  girls  and  men  of  impeccable  appearance,  both 
creating  and  responding  to  a  want,  a  fad  of  long  duration 
perhaps,  is  interrupted  in  the  case  of  an  artist  such  as 
James  Montgomery  Flagg.  To  dash  and  facility  he  joins 
an  evident  strong  sense  of  humor,  a  saving  grace  which 
restores  balance  in  point  of  view,  bringing  us  more  into 
accord  again  with  things  as  they  really  are.  Flagg,  like 
Gibson,  is  active  not  so  much  as  an  illustrator,  but  as  a 
producer  of  individual  drawings  emphasizing  each  some 
particular  idea,  a  form  that  enters  the  realm  of  pictorial 
satire.  The  other  exponents,  who  have  been  named,  of 
certain  modern  tendencies,  have  also,  to  a  great  extent, 
produced  work  that  is  issued  independently,  on  its  own 
account,  and  not  in  accompaniment  of  any  continuous  text. 
The  art  of  book-illustrating,  which  has  its  finest  success 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  235 

in  the  intelligent  wedding  of  picture  and  text,  in  the  un- 
folding of  originality  within  the  limits  set,  has  been  and  Is 
practised,  in  these  times,  by  a  number  of  able  and  dis- 
criminating artists. 

Consideration  of  present-day  illustration  must  be  based 
on  the  principles  of  the  art.  Illustration  must  elucidate 
the  text  or  adorn  it;  it  may  do  both,  but  at  all  events 
it  must  be  in  harmony  with  the  text.  I  have  not  in 
mind  the  occasional  lapse  on  the  part  of  an  artist,  the 
oversight  that  produces  an  unwarranted  change  in  the 
appearance  of  a  character,  or  an  anachronism  in  costume, 
or  the  construction  of  a  scene  distinctly  different  from  the 
author's  description.  Such  matters  may  be  left  to  the 
letter-writing  reader  of  "  literary  supplements,"  who  will 
be  sure  to  air  his  discovery  in  his  paper.  Our  illustration 
has  suffered  not  so  much  from  such  mistakes  as  from  a 
tendency  to  parade  cleverness  in  place  of  thoroughness, 
to  dazzle  the  eye  by  a  display  of  glittering  superficiality. 
One  cannot  expect  all  illustrators  to  adopt  the  method  of  a 
Menzel  in  his  accompaniment  of  pictorial  comment  to  the 
works  of  Frederick  the  Great.  In  fact,  such  a  combina- 
tion of  gradgrind  industry,  technical  power  and  mental 
equipment  as  he  possessed  is  rather  rare.  But  one  may 
at  least  ask  that  certain  prominent  creators  of  American 
types  or  matinee  ideals  shall  not  use  a  few  models  posing 
frankly  as  the  most  varying  personages.  The  burden  of 
duty  toward  art  is  borne  rather  too  lightly  when  the 
same  heroic  "  full  dress  "  type  is  employed  to  represent 
both  the  society  man  and  the  Italian  excursion  boat  fiddler. 
They   have  unfortunately  produced   others   of  this   Ilk, 


236  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

clever  imitators,  a  diluted  solution  of  their  undoubtedly 
clever  prototypes.  Oliver  Herford,  in  "  The  Astonishing 
Tale  of  a  Pen-and-ink  Puppet,  or  The  Gentle  Art  of 
Illustrating,"  from  one  drawing  of  a  man  and  one  of  a 
girl  constructed  manikins  which  he  readjusted  into  cari- 
catures of  the  "  he  and  she  "  drawings  familiar  to  readers 
of  books  and  magazines. 

Luckily  we  are  not  wholly  dominated  by  this  school, 
although  it  has  often  held  the  center  of  the  stage,  brilliant 
in  the  lime-light's  glare.  If  there  have  been  "  stars " 
not  free  from  glittering  rant,  we  have  also  had  a  very 
good  stock  company. 

Smedley's  delicate  psychological  analysis  and  Pyle's 
thoroughness  and  insight  have  been  spoken  of.  To  these 
two  is  to  be  added  Arthur  I.  Keller,  very  prominently 
identified  with  recent  de  luxe  editions  of  American  classics 
(Longfellow's  "Hanging  of  the  Crane,"  etc.)  and 
known  also  as  the  illustrator  of  Wister's  "  Virginian," 
F.  H.  Smith's  "  Caleb  West "  and  many  other  books. 
His  conscientious  study  of  the  authors'  intentions  and 
characters  is  embodied  in  a  style  that  is  free  and  spon- 
taneous. You  feel  that  his  illustrations  are  adequately 
in  harmony  with  the  written  word,  yet  the  artist  is  not 
merely  a  reflection  of  the  author.  The  latter,  as  it  were, 
speaks  to  us  in  the  pictures  through  a  discriminating  per- 
sonality that  has  added  life  to  the  characters  visualized 
for  us.  He  seems  particularly  happy  in  the  representa- 
tion of  groups  of  people  in  their  temporary  mental  and 
physical  relations. 

It  is  work  such  as  that  of  these  three  which  constitutes 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  237 

the  real  backbone  of  modern  illustration  and  emphasizes 
the  fact  that  cleverness,  the  use  of  dashing  types  and  a 
brilliant,  swagger  style  are  not  in  themselves  the  sole  ele- 
ments of  the  best  art.  Serious  accomplishment  appeared 
also  in  the  illustrations  of  the  late  Walter  Appleton  Clark 
(an  appreciation  of  whose  broad,  bold,  sympathetic  work 
appeared  in  the  "  International  Studio"  in  1907),  F.  C. 
Yohn,  the  late  Louis  Loeb  and  Albert  Sterner.  Sterner's 
drawings  for  "  Prue  and  I,"  by  G.  W.  Curtis,  as  Hopkin- 
son  Smith  said,  "  preserved  the  very  essence  and  sweetness 
of  the  aroma  of  [this]  charming  story."  His  art  is  dealt 
with  in  an  article  by  Christian  Brinton,  in  "  Putnam's 
Magazine"  for  July,  1907.  Other  names  more  or  less 
familiar  to  the  public  in  these  days  of  the  ubiquitous  illus- 
tration are  W.  J.  Aylward,  Stanley  M.  Arthurs,  Jay  Ham- 
bidge,  the  Kinneys,  Clifford  Carleton,  Orson  Lowell,  Ed- 
mund M,  Ashe,  W.  D.  Stevens,  Frederic  D.  Steele,  Jules 
Guerin  (a  painter  of  delicate  visions  of  city  scenes),  J.  R. 
Shaver,  Thomas  Fogarty,  W.  L.  Jacobs,  C.  Allan  Gilbert, 
C.  K.  Linson,  G.  Wright,  Reuterdahl,  F.  Luis  Mora, 
E.  L.  Blumenschein,  Lucius  W.  Hitchcock,  Ernest  C. 
Peixotto,  Vernon  Howe  Bailey,  W.  J.  Glackens,  L.  May- 
nard  Dixon,  John  Cecil  Clay,  Gordon  Grant,  John  Edwin 
Jackson  and  Victor  S.  Perard.  If  they  do  not  all  ex- 
emplify fully  the  illustrator's  function  to  illustrate,  they 
do  accentuate  the  great  advance  in  the  general  level  of 
technique.  Also,  individual  temperament  and  predispo- 
sition have  indicated  pretty  clearly  the  line  of  subjects 
for  each  one,  so,  that,  for  example,  we  look  naturally  to 
Glackens,  not  Grant,  for  pictures  of  the  "  lower  order,'* 


238  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

4 

to  Bailey,  not  Guerin,  for  straightforward  statements  of 
urban  architectural  facts,  to  Steele,  not  Ashe,  for  delinea- 
tions of  life  on  the  docks. 

An  element  of  importance  is  the  great  improvement  of 
reproductive  methods.  The  photo-mechanical  processes 
have  done  incalculable  good  in  facilitating  and  cheapening 
pubhcation,  and  have  brought  good  art  where  it  was  not 
so  easily  brought  before.  But  they  have  not  been  an 
entirely  unmixed  good.  Also,  the  ease  of  reproducing 
drawings  done  in  wash  or  oils  has  dimmed  to  sight  the 
essential  significance  of  the  line.  The  close  relation  be- 
tween printing-type  and  the  line-drawn  illustration,  orna- 
ment or  initial,  is  apt  to  be  overlooked.  Recognition  of 
the  importance  of  this  harmony  between  component  parts 
has  caused  the  production  of  books  with  type,  pictures, 
end  papers  and  covers  designed  by  one  artist.  Of  Euro- 
pean artists,  William  Morris  or  Joseph  Sattler  are  names 
that  quite  naturally  come  to  mind,  although  they  repre- 
sent different  individual  taste  and  temperament. 

As  to  the  question  of  the  raison  d'etre  of  illustration, 
that  is  not  one  to  be  discussed  here.  It  has  been  brought 
up  repeatedly,  for  instance  in  a  symposium  of  authors 
and  writers  in  the  "  Bookman,"  1904,  and  in  the  "  Acad- 
emy "  in  the  same  year.  Accepting  illustration  as  an 
established  factor,  there  are  certain  sane  principles  which 
may  safely  be  insisted  on.  Why  should  a  book  be  illus- 
trated at  all  hazards,  whether  the  text  calls  for  such 
addition  or  not?  The  only  reason  is  that  of  effecting 
sales,  as  it  is  also  in  the  case  of  pictures  with  little  regard 
to  the  text,  issued  to  attract  attention.     Why  should  not 


Copyrit'lit  1904.     Used  by  special  permission  of  the  publishers.  The  Bobbs-Merrili  Company 

Illustration  by  Arthur  I.  Keller.      From  "Tomorrow's  Tangle," 
by  Geraldine  Bonner 


THE  ILLUSTRATORS  239 

some  discrimination  be  shown  in  the  choice  of  an  illus- 
trator? When  the  New  York  "  Times  "  of  October  13, 
1906,  cited  as  instances  the  selection  of  E.  W.  Kemble 
to  make  drawings  for  the  "  Vicar  of  Wakefield "  and 
Elizabeth  Shippen  Green  to  illustrate  the  "  City  of  Dread- 
ful Night,"  its  criticism  was  derogatory  to  the  publishers, 
not  to  the  artists.  If  then,  finally,  there  is  shown  more 
frequently  a  regard  for  the  book  as  a  product,  in  itself, 
in  its  entirety,  of  craftsmanship  governed  by  good  taste, 
we  may  be  content  with  such  a  counterbalance  to  the  de- 
teriorating effects  of  over-production. 


CHAPTER  XII 
CARICATURE 

The  corrective  force  of  pictorial  satire  did  not  enter 
as  a  factor  into  the  political  development  of  this  country 
until  the  first  low  rumblings  of  the  coming  revolutionary 
thunder  storm  made  themselves  heard.  And  even  then, 
American  production  played  no  prominent  part;  the  colo- 
nists were  too  busy  in  maintaining  the  contest,  in  legis- 
lative halls  and  later  on  the  field  of  battle,  to  give  native 
talent  in  caricature — assuming  that  there  was  such — much 
opportunity  to  develop. 

In  the  inevitable  clash  between  French  and  British  in- 
terests, in  the  uncertain  times  when  the  Revolution  cast 
its  shadows  before,  and  during  the  war  itself,  caricature 
indeed  had  its  part,  but  its  execution  was  foreign.  It  was 
abroad  that  the  aid  of  the  comic  art  was  exerted  most 
vigorously  in  favor  of  the  struggling  colonies.  Not  only 
in  the  countries  unfriendly  to  England,  in  France  and  Hol- 
land and  Spain,  but  In  England  itself  did  these  sharp 
attacks  on  the  policy  of  the  mother  country  appear.  An 
exhibition  of  Mr.  R.  T.  Haines  Halsey's  collection  of 
cartoons  of  this  period,  held  in  New  York  a  few  years 
ago,  offered  a  remarkable  review  of  the  nature  and  extent 
of  this  pictorial  comment.  In  our  present  day  of  facile 
reproduction,   when   every  third   daily  paper   appears  to 

have  Its  cartoonist,  when  every  little  political  local  hap- 

240 


CARICATURE  241 

pening  Is  humorously  pictured  next  day,  the  two  and  a 
half  hundred  cartoons  In  the  exhibition  referred  to  may 
not  at  first  blush  appear  a  great  number.  But  when  we 
consider  that  every  one  of  these  prints,  poor  even  as  some 
of  them  were,  had  to  be  more  or  less  laboriously  engraved 
on  copper,  the  output  seems  decidedly  large. 

These  old  cartoons  are  apt  to  comment  on  more  general 
and  far-reaching  events  and  principles  than  the  little  hap- 
penings, or  acts  of  Individuals,  of  minor  Importance,  which 
so  frequently  form  the  subject  of  the  pictorial  joke  of 
our  daily  press,  thrown  away  on  the  day  It  Is  published. 
There  Is  usually  little  art  to  speak  of  In  these  old  car- 
toons; often  they  are  quite  crude,  although  one  occasion- 
ally comes  across  early  designs  by  Gillray  or  Rowlandson 
which  already  foreshadow  the  facile  style  of  those  artists. 
But  as  historical  documents  these  old  engravings  are  of 
interest  and  value;  In  them,  contemporary  opinion  is  mir- 
rored In  most  graphic  manner.  In  these  prints  the  strug- 
gle between  France  and  England  for  supremacy  in  the 
New  World  is  reflected,  and  the  rise  of  Scotch  Influence 
at  the  English  court  Indicated.  Then  comes  the  Stamp 
Act  period  (to  1773),  with  prints  nearly  all  friendly 
to  America;  In  one  of  them,  referring  to  budget  troubles, 
an  Indian  appears  taxed  without  representation.  The 
Boston  Port  Bill  (1774)  called  forth  a  series  of  mezzo- 
tints described  in  "  The  Boston  Port  Bill  as  pictured  by 
a  contemporary  London  cartoonist,"  by  R.  T.  H.  Halsey 
(Groller  Club:  1904)  ;  one  of  these  deals  with  the  reso- 
lution of  the  women  of  Edenton,  N.  C,  to  drink  no  more 
tea  and  wear  no  more  British  clothes.     The  largest  group 


242  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

was  that  dealing  with  the  Revolution,  and  it  consisted  of 
English,  Dutch  and  French  engravings.  In  the  French 
and  Dutch  productions,  Britannia  figuring  as  a  cow,  being 
milked  by  France,  Spain  and  Holland,  while  America  saws 
off  her  horns  (means  of  defense),  is  a  favorite  device. 
One  of  the  Dutch  artists  shows  John  Paul  Jones  castigat- 
ing the  queen  of  the  seas,  and  a  French  picture  depicts 
Arnold  as  a  little  boy  enraged  at  seeing  himself  cheated 
out  of  the  price  of  his  treason.  France's  glory  is  dis- 
played in  a  scene  in  which  she  drives  England  from  Amer- 
ica while  the  inhabitants  joyfully  dance  around  a  pole  sur- 
mounted by  a  liberty  cap.  The  British  caricatures,  on 
the  whole,  were  also  not  unfriendly  to  the  colonies.  They 
show  a  tendency  to  treat  America  as  a  wayward  child,  a 
dupe  of  her  confederates  Monsieur  Louis  Baboon 
(France),  Don  Diego  (Spain)  and  Mynheer  Frog  (Hol- 
land), which  three  are  frequently  and  vigorously  attacked, 
as  is  the  home  government.  The  American  rattlesnake 
holding  two  British  armies  (Burgoyne's  and  Cornwallis's) 
in  its  coils,  and  ready  for  a  third,  is  a  striking  production. 
The  chapter  is  closed  by  a  picture  published  in  1783,  with 
the  inscription: 

"  Britannia :  '  Come,  come,  shake  hands,  and  let's  be 
friends.' 

"  America :  '  With  all  my  heart,  I've  gained  my  ends.'  " 

But  the  troubles  of  this  period  called  forth  also  at  least 
a  few  caricatures  by  colonial  talent,  notably  some  by 
Paul  Revere,  the  silversmith.  Whether  or  not  that 
worthy  took  his  famous  ride,  he  did  his  share  in  comment- 


CARICATURE  243 

ing  pictorially  on  the  attitude  of  Britain  to  her  colonies. 
Not  only  in  his  famous  Boston  Massacre  print,  but  in 
allegorical  compositions,  A  View  of  the  Year  1765  and 
Stamp  Act  repealed  (the  obelisk  print,  1766),  both  deal- 
ing with  the  Stamp  Act.  Likewise  in  caricatures:  The 
Rescinders ,  The  Able  Doctor,  or  America  swallowing  the 
Bitter  Draught  (tea  forced  down  her  throat),  June,  1774, 
The  Mitred  Minuet  around  the  Quebec  Bill,  October, 
1774,  and  America  in  Distress,  February,  1775,  the  last 
three  published  in  the  *'  Royal  American  Magazine." 

Sometimes  an  event  of  local  interest  would  occasion 
a  satirical  design  of  home  manufacture,  the  engraving  of 
which  might  fall  to  one  with  a  sense  of  humor  or  not. 
Of  such  sporadic  cases  a  few  are  noted  in  the  annals  of 
engraving  on  copper.  Nathaniel  Hurd  in  1762  cari- 
catured Dr.  Seth  Hudson  and  a  certain  Mr.  Howe,  con- 
victed of  counterfeiting.  Henry  Dawkins  is  credited  by 
Thomas  Westcott  ("History  of  Philadelphia")  with 
several  large  plates  "  caricaturing  events  in  the  political 
history  of  Philadelphia  in  1764."  One  of  these  last- 
named  was  probably  the  one  showing  the  advance  of  the 
Paxton  boys  upon  Philadelphia  (1764),  suggested  by  C. 
R.  Hildeburn  to  be  by  James  Claypoole,  Jr.,  but  believed 
by  Stauffer  to  be  probably  the  work  of  Dawkins,  it  being 
dedicated  by  "  H.  D."  Two  of  these  plates,  relating 
to  the  election  of  1764  and  the  "  Paxton  Boys,"  are  re- 
produced in  P.  L.  Ford's  "  Many-sided  Franklin  "  (New 
York,  1899). 

Franklin  himself  is  associated  with  the  Invention  of 
two  of  the  most  noted  satirical  designs  of  the  day.     One 


244  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

was  the  device  of  a  serpent,  cut  into  pieces,  one  for  each 
colony,  with  the  motto  Join  or  die  or  Unite  or  die.  This 
appeared  in  the  "  Pennsylvania  Gazette,"  the  "  Boston 
Gazette"  and  the  "Boston  News  Letter"  in  1754,  the 
"Boston  Evening  Post"  in  1765  (Stamp  Act  period), 
and  again  before  the  Revolution,  in  the  "  Pennsylvania 
Journal,"  1774.  Lossing,  in  his  "  Field  Book  of  the 
Revolution,"  tells  us  that  the  loyal  papers  roundly  con- 
demned this  cut,  a  writer  in  "  Rivington's  Royal  Gazette  " 
calling  it  a  "  scandalous  and  saucy  reflection."  Albert 
Matthews,  in  his  "The  Snake  Devices,  1754-1776,  and 
the  Constitutional  Courant,  1765  "  (Cambridge,  1908), 
says  that  the  famous  snake  devices  "  presumably  originally 
owed  their  existence  to  the  suggestion  of  Franklin."  The 
other  Franklin  cut  represented  Britain  dismembered,  a 
limbless  trunk,  turning  tearful  eyes  to  heaven,  while 
beside  her  lie  her  legs,  arms,  hands  and  feet,  repre- 
senting the   colonies,   cut  off   and  leaving  her  helpless 

(1774). 

James  Parton,  in  his  "  Caricature  and  other  Comic 
Art"  (New  York,  1877),  calls  attention  also  to  another 
newspaper  heading,  the  row  of  Boston  Massacre  coffins, 
mutely  voicing  the  colonists'  protest.  And  there  was  a 
bit  of  pictorial  humor  post  festum,  the  nine  copper-plates 
by  E.  Tisdale  illustrating  the  1795  edition  of  Trumbull's 
"  McFingal." 

The  period  about  the  end  of  the  Revolution  was  not 
notably  productive  of  caricature.  Perhaps  the  cause  is 
to  be  found  in  the  lack  of  home  talent,  perhaps  in  the  fact 
that  despite  the  politico-military  cabaling  of  some  generals 


CARICATURE  245 

during  the  war  and  the  growing  difference  between  Fed- 
eral and  Republican  principles  afterward,  the  country  was 
united  in  the  struggle  for  national  existence.  Dissenting 
opinion  grew,  however.  William  Maclay  commented  In 
his  "  Diary  "  on  the  excessive  adulation  of  Washington 
and  the  monarchical  tendencies  of  his  followers.  Oppo- 
sition to  the  "  Father  of  his  Country  "  took  pictorial  form 
as  well.  Lossing,  In  "Our  Country"  (Vol.  2,  p.  11 23), 
records  that  on  the  day  after  Washington's  arrival  In 
New  York,  as  president-elect,  a  caricature  appeared,  "  full 
of  disloyal  and  profane  allusions."  In  it  the  president 
was  shown  mounted  on  an  ass,  in  the  arms  of  his  body 
servant  Billy.  Colonel  David  Humphreys,  leading  the 
animal,  Is  *'  chanting  hosannahs  and  birthday  odes,"  while 
the  devil  remarks  that  "  the  glorious  time  has  come  to 
pass  when  David  shall  conduct  an  ass."  Yet  in  the  cata- 
logue of  the  E.  B.  Holden  sale.  No.  1088  is  described  as 
the  "  only  known  caricature  of  Washington."  This  rep- 
resents "  Mrs.  General  Washington,  bestowing  thirteen 
stripes  on  Britannia  "  with  the  lash. 

Most  of  the  caricatures  of  the  day,  as  will  be  seen, 
were  anti-Federalist,  but  the  idol  of  the  Republican  Party 
came  In  for  at  least  one  vigorous  pictorial  knock.  In  a 
pamphlet  by  Robert  G.  Harper,  probably  issued  in  1797, 
entitled  "  Observations  on  the  Dispute  between  the  U.  S. 
and  France,"  the  frontispiece  presents  a  caricature  of 
Jefferson  In  allusion  to  his  alleged  atheistic  tendencies  and 
his  attachment  to  the  cause  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Similarly,  the  doctrines  of  Thomas  Paine  were  dealt  with 
In  a  large  and  poor  plate  entitled  Church  and  State,  signed 


246  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

B.  Picart,  and  issued,  we  are  told,  by  H.  D.  Robinson, 
New  York,  "about  1800." 

A  very  crude  print  depicted  an  exchange  of  amenities 
in  Congress  (1798),  of  a  kind  that  has  again  occurred 
much  more  recently  in  Washington,  Matthew  Lyon  and 
Roger  Griswold  being  the  members  implicated.  Under 
this  caricature  were  these  lines : 

"  He  in  a  trice  struck  Lyon  thrice 
Upon  the  head,  enrag'd,  sir, 
Who  seiz'd  the  tongs  to  ease  his  wrongs 
And  Griswold  thus  engag'd,  sir." 

The  plate  appears  in  the  "  Historical  Magazine  "  for 
January,  1864,  where  reference  is  made  also  to  a  carica- 
ture of  an  earlier  fracas  between  these  two  gentlemen,  in 
which  Lyon  is  represented  as  the  king  of  beasts  on  his 
hind  legs.  That,  after  all,  was  a  record  of  a  personal 
intermezzo.  Of  more  significance  was  the  comment  on 
the  proceeding  which  to  this  day  is  termed  "  gerrymander- 
ing." In  18 1 1  the  Massachusetts  legislature  rearranged 
the  senatorial  districts  of  the  state  so  as  to  secure  power 
to  the  Democrats,  Governor  Gerry  signing  the  measure. 
In  Essex  County  the  arrangement  as  to  towns  was  "  par- 
ticularly absurd."  Gilbert  Stuart,  seeing  a  map  on  which 
the  towns  thus  selected  were  indicated  by  particular  colors, 
noted  the  similarity  to  some  monstrous  animal.  Indicat- 
ing the  same  with  a  few  touches,  he  said  to  Russell,  of  the 
*'  Boston  Centinel,"  "  that  will  do  for  a  salamander." 
"  Salamander,"  was  the  reply;  "  call  it  Gerrymander." 
By  the  time  the  War  of  18 12  loomed  in  sight,  the  home 


CARICATURE  247 

product  in  comic  art  became  a  little  more  prominent. 
Quincy's  opposition  to  the  "  War  act "  of  the  Adminis- 
tration (18 12)  roused  bitter  attacks  in  squibs,  epigrams 
and  caricatures.  One  of  the  last,  by  William  Charles, 
entitled  Josiah  the  First,  pictured  Quincy  as  a  king  (in 
reference  to  his  political  domination),  with  crown  and 
scepter,  with  an  inscription  in  which  he  proclaimed  himself 
King  of  New  England,  Nova  Scotia  and  Passamaquoddy 
and  Grand  Master  of  the  Noble  Order  of  the  Two  Cod- 
fishes, the  last  perhaps  in  reference  to  the  "  importance 
of  the  codfishery  to  the  welfare  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,"  as  John  Rowe  put  it  when  proposing  the 
placing  of  the  representation  of  a  codfish  in  the  state  house 
at  Boston,  where  it  hung  from  1784  on. 

The  Embargo  Act  of  April  14,  18 12,  was  strongly 
denounced  by  anti-administration  speakers  and  news- 
papers, and  the  land  trade  with  Canada,  which  had  become 
suddenly  arrested  by  it,  was  represented  by  a  bewildered 
serpent,  stopped  by  two  trees  labeled  respectively  Em- 
bargo and  Non-intervention.  The  Gallic  cock  stands  by, 
joyously  crowing.  The  passage  of  the  Embargo  Act  in 
December,  18 13,  designed  to  prevent  the  furnishing  of 
supplies  to  the  enemy  and  the  importation  of  British 
manufactures  in  professedly  neutral  vessels  evoked  a  cari- 
cature designed  and  engraved  by  Alexander  Anderson. 
A  former  embargo,  during  Jefferson's  administration,  was 
called  by  the  opposition  Federalists  "  a  terrapin  policy." 
In  recollection  of  that,  Anderson  has  the  act  of  18 13 
personified  by  a  monstrous  terrapin  who  has  seized  a 
violator  of  the  law  by  the  seat  of  his  breeches,  he  crying 


248  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

out,  Oh!  this  cursed  o-grah-me  [embargo  spelled  back- 
ward] !  The  fling  was  aimed  at  the  New  England  peo- 
ple, who  were  supposed  to  be  saving  their  coasts  from 
devastation,  and  filling  their  pockets  at  the  same  time, 
by  supplying  the  British  cruisers  with  provisions.  On 
the  repeal  of  the  measure,  the  "  Death  of  the  Embargo  " 
was  celebrated  in  verses  in  the  "  Federal  Republican," 
subsequently  republished  in  the  "Evening  Post"  (New 
York)  with  a  design  by  John  Wesley  Jarvis,  also  en- 
graved by  Anderson,  whose  burin  thus  served  both  sides. 
The  cut  illustrates  a  poem  entitled  the  Terrapin's  Address, 
and  beginning: 

"  Reflect,   my  friend,   as  you   pass  by, 
As  you  are  now,  so  once  was  I." 

All  these  war  prints  will  be  found  reproduced  in  Lossing's 
"Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812." 

The  Hartford  Convention  naturally  called  forth  Dem- 
ocratic attacks.  The  administration  party  issued  a  hand- 
bill (reproduced  in  "  Harper's  Popular  Cyclopedia  of 
U.  S.  History")  in  which  the  Federal  Party  is  repre- 
sented by  the  devil  and  the  Democratic  by  a  comely  young 
woman  with  a  palm  leaf. 

The  most  noteworthy  productions  in  caricature  en- 
gendered by  the  war,  however,  were  the  dozen  or  so 
of  prints  by  William  Charles,  It  appears  that  he  was 
a  native  of  Edinburgh,  who  left  that  city  for  this  country 
about  1 80 1  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  having  carica- 
tured some  of  the  magistrates.  He  practised  his  art  suc- 
cessively in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  died  in  the 


CARICATURE  249 

latter  city,  where  he  had  a  book  and  print  shop,  in  1821. 
His  caricatures  are  typical  of  the  Rowlandson-Gillray 
period;  one  of  them,  John  Bull  making  a  new  Batch  of 
Ships  to  send  to  the  Lakes,  being  evidently  directly  in- 
spired by  Gillray's  Tiddy-Doll,  the  great  French  Ginger- 
bread Baker,  drawing  out  a  new  Batch  of  Kings.  While 
not  remarkable,  they  yet  have  a  certain  rough  humor 
which  no  doubt  made  them  popular  in  those  days  of 
excitement.  A  noteworthy  one  was  A  Wasp  on  a  Frolic, 
or  a  Sting  for  John  Bull,  giving  expression  to  the  exulta- 
tion at  the  victory  of  the  "  Wasp  "  over  the  "  Frolic,"  in 
which  the  somewhat  obvious  conceit  of  a  huge  wasp  sting- 
ing John  Bull  was  effectively  utilized.  Another  one 
(September,  18 13)  celebrated  Perry's  victory  in  a  pic- 
torial pun  on  the  word  "  perry,"  the  name  for  the  fresh 
juice  of  the  pear,  which  is  apt  to  produce  uncomfortable 
digestive  phenomena.  King  George  is  seated,  his  hand 
on  his  stomach,  writhing  in  pain,  rejecting  offers  of  more 
*'  Perry "  from  Queen  Charlotte,  who  holds  an  open 
bottle,  from  which  is  spouting  foam  bearing  the  names 
of  the  American  vessels  in  the  battle.  Various  inscrip- 
tions add  to  the  humor  of  the  print,  which  is  emphasized 
also  in  these  lines  in  a  ballad  of  the  day: 

"  On  Erie's  wave,  while  Barclay  brave 
With  Charlotte  making  merry. 
He  chanced  to  take  the  belly-ache 
We  drenched  him  so  with  Perry." 

"  Charlotte "  was  one  of  the  British  vessels,  and  a  pun 
on   the  queen's  name   is  intended,   of   course.     Charles 


250  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

issued  also  prints  relating  to  embargo  {The  Cat  let  out 
of  the  Bag,  a  later  impression  of  which  has  the  title 
The  Tory  Editor  and  his  Apes  giving  their  pitiful  Advice 
to  the  American  Sailors)^  the  Hartford  Convention,  or 
Leap,  no  Leap,  and  the  ones  entitled  John  Bull  and  the 
Baltimoreans,  Johnny  Bull  and  the  Alexandrians  (he  de- 
mands their  flour,  tobacco,  provisions,  ships,  "  everything 
except  your  porter  and  perry.  .  .  .  I've  had  enough 
of  them  already")  and  Bruin  become  Mediator  or 
Negotiations  for  Peace. 

Another  naval  victory,  that  of  the  "  Hornet  "  over  the 
*'  Peacock,"  February,  1813,  brought  Amos  Doolittle  into 
caricature.  His  engraving  (reproduced  in  Lossing's 
"  Field  Book  of  the  War  of  18 12,"  p.  700)  showed  an 
immense  hornet,  alighting,  with  the  cry  Free  trades  and 
sailor's  rights,  you  old  rascal,  on  the  head  of  a  bull  with 
the  wings  and  tail  of  a  peacock.  (Doolittle,  by  the  way, 
did  also  a  hand-colored  etching  representing  Napoleon 
hemmed  in  by  the  Russian  bear,  the  British  lions  and 
other  animals  in  the  zoological  garden  of  Europe's  na- 
tional symbolism.) 

The  years  immediately  succeeding  the  war  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  borne  much  fruit  in  comic  art.  Occasionally 
you  will  come  across  a  print  such  as  the  etching  Democ- 
racy against  the  Unnatural  Union.  Trial  Oct.  14,  18 ly. 
Designed  and  executed  by  one  who  has  neither  place  nor 
pension,  or  the  colored  aquatint  showing  John  Binns 
carrying  a  pile  of  coffins,  from  which  emerge  Henry  Clay 
and  J.  Q.  Adams.  It  is  entitled  The  Pedlar  and  his  Pack, 
or  the  Desperate  Effort,  an  Over  Balance. 


CARICATURE  251 

As  Charles  had  been  a  rough  reflex  of  Gillray,  so 
David  Claypoole  Johnston  (i 797-1 865)  was  a  somewhat 
weak  dilution  of  Cruikshank.  Johnston  evidently  had 
no  easy  time  to  make  ends  meet;  he  did  many  things 
and  used  various  methods,  all  with  a  certain  technical 
fluency  up  to  a  certain  point :  portraits  in  lithography  and 
stipple,  book  illustrations  and  caricatures  in  etching.  The 
last  he  issued  in  oblong  quarto  booklets,  under  the  title 
Scraps,  during  the  thirties  and  forties,  of  five  plates  each, 
every  plate  including  a  number  of  sketches,  the  whole 
in  the  manner  of  Cruikshank's  Sketch  Book.  On  the  last 
sheet  of  one  of  the  parts  he  depicted  himself  figuring  the 
price  charged  for  each  sheet, — two  cents  "  and  no  charge 
for  letter  press  matter."  A  fair  example  of  his  work 
may  be  found  also  in  "  Outlines  illustrative  of  the  Journal 

of  F A K Drawn  &  etched  by  Mr " 

(Boston,  1835),  rather  heavy  and  a  bit  coarse.  The 
only  political  squib  by  him  which  has  come  to  my  notice 
was  issued  as  late  as  1863,  a  sheet  on  Jefferson  Davis, 
The  house  that  Jeff  built.  Scharf  and  Westcott,  in  their 
"History  of  Philadelphia,"  Vol.  II,  page  1063,  tell  us 
that  his  hits  at  dandies  and  local  militia  officers  were  re- 
sented and  libel  suits  threatened,  so  that  he  temporarily 
abandoned  art  for  the  stage.  Another  Philadelphia  cari- 
caturist was  Edward  W.  Clay  (1792-1857), — "merci- 
less," Stauffer  calls  him.  His  The  Nation's  Bulwark. 
A  well-disciplined  Militia  {Sketches  of  Character,  No.  i, 
1829)  is  quite  good-natured  raillery,  however;  the  na- 
tion's defenders  there  shown  include  portraits  of  actual 
individuals,  among  them  C.  G.  Childs.     Like  Johnston 


252  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

he  did  many  things,  drew  views  of  Philadelphia  for 
Childs,  engraved  in  stipple,  drew  on  stone,  designed  for 
line-engravers.  James  Akin  drew  and  published  A 
dozvn[w]right  Gabbler,  directed  at  the  eccentric  and  out- 
spoken reformer  Fanny  Wright,  who  was  lecturing  in 

1833-6. 

The  period  between  the  War  of  18 12  and  the  Civil 
War  had  its  good  share  of  events  to  stir  the  public  mind 
and  exercise  slowly  growing  facility  in  caricature.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  for  some  time  to  come  the  humor  in  the 
cartoons  issued  in  separate  sheets,  lies  not  in  any  distor- 
tion in  the  drawing  but  in  the  underlying  idea.  The  re- 
marks of  the  various  persons  in  the  pictures  are  inclosed 
in  loops  issuing  from  their  mouths,  in  the  manner  ever- 
recurring  again,  and  always  marking  a  distinctly  lower 
grade  of  the  art,  as  in  so  many  of  the  dreary  continuous 
series  drawn  out  through  successive  issues  of  our  present- 
day  newspapers.  The  designer,  too,  generally  employed 
a  number  of  figures  to  emphasize  his  point.  He  often 
offered  a  resume,  so  to  speak,  of  the  collective  activity 
of  a  group  of  politicians  and  statesmen  during  a  given 
period.  To-day  we  have  our  pictorial  comments  so  fre- 
quently issued  that  they  deal  each  with  some  detail  of 
the  political  situation,  some  individual  affair  or  person- 
ality, and  therefore  often  show  a  minimum  of  effort  to 
emphasize  a  general  principle.  In  those  ante-bellum  days, 
lithography  appeared  as  a  vehicle  for  caricature  at  an 
early  date.  A  new  Map  of  the  United  States,  with  the 
additional  Territories  on  an  improved  Plan.  Exhibiting 
a  View  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  surveyed  by  a  Company 


CARICATURE  253 

of  Winnebago  Indians  in  182S  came  from  Imbert^s  estab- 
lishment, and  is  perhaps  one  of  the  earliest  examples  of 
the  entrance  into  caricature  of  the  lithographic  art.  The 
latter  was  employed  in  this  field  a  little  later  by  H.  R. 
Robinson,  and  then  by  Currier  &  Ives,  whose  long  series 
of  sheets,  both  caricatures  and  illustrations  of  public 
events,  remain  a  store-house  of  interest  to  the  student  of 
the  American  phase  of  what  the  French  call  imagerie 
populaire. 

It  was  with  the  first  administration  of  Jackson,  as  Joseph 
B.  Bishop  ("Century  Magazine,"  June,  1892)  notes, 
that  caricature  in  this  country  became  a  more  frequently 
employed  factor  in  political  contests.  Jackson's  robust 
personality  formed  good  material  for  caricatures,  both 
those  assailing  and  those  defending  his  acts  and  measures, 
— the  fight  against  the  United  States  Bank,  the  affair  of 
the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  and  so  forth.  A  favorite  device 
of  the  caricaturist,  the  race  between  rival  candidates  for 
nomination  or  election,  appears  in  A  Foot-Race,  showing 
Jackson  and  others,  an  etching  somewhat  in  the  style  of 
Johnston.  Jackson  clearing  his  Kitchen  and  Rats  leaving 
a  fallen  House,  two  etchings  published  in  1831  and  re- 
ferring to  the  dissolution  of  the  Kitchen  Cabinet,  were 
designed  by  Edward  W.  Clay,  already  mentioned.  This 
artist,  who,  according  to  Scharf  and  Westcott's  "  History 
of  Philadelphia  "  (Vol.  II,  p.  1063) ,  was  "  for  more  than 
twenty  years  a  noted  caricaturist,"  drew  also  A  Boston 
Notion  for  the  World's  Fair  (1844) ,  aimed  at  the  Aboli- 
tion movement.  Parton's  reference  to  burlesque  proces- 
sions during  the  presidential  campaign  of  1 832  is  a  propos. 


254  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

The  hickory  pole,  Nicholas  Biddle  as  "  Old  Nick,"  and 
other  features  which  figured  therein,  are  akin  to  the  catch- 
words employed  by  the  cartoonists  of  that  time.  The 
war  on  the  U.  S.  Bank  (1837)  called  forth  such  pieces  as 
the  shinplaster  caricature.  Great  Locofoco  Juggernaut, 
in  which  Van  Buren  appears,  and  the  two  lithographs. 
The  Modern  Balaam  and  his  Ass  and  New  Edition  of 
Macbeth,  Bank-oh's  Ghost,  the  last  signed  C  and  printed 
and  published  by  H.  R.  Robinson.  Sub-treasurers  taking 
long  Steps,  also  published  by  Robinson  (1838),  is  signed 
Grennell.  Still  another  publication  by  Robinson  is  a  little 
volume  by  "  Junius  Junior,"  entitled  "  The  Vision  of 
Judgment"  (1838),  with  Jackson  caricatures  signed 
N.  Sarony. 

The  candidate's  race  idea  appears  again  in  The  Great 
American  Steeplechase  for  18^4  (issued  1843  ^Y  H.  R. 
Robinson).  This  publisher  is  the  Robinson  who,  as  Fred- 
eric Hudson  says,  in  his  history  of  American  journalism, 
"  lined  the  curbstones  and  covered  the  old  fences  of  New 
York  with  his  peculiarly  characteristic  caricatures  during 
Jackson's  and  Van  Buren's  administrations." 

Then  the  Mexican  War  became  the  topic  of  interest,  but 
apparently  not  with  the  quantitative  result  in  the  field  of 
caricature  that  one  might  perhaps  have  expected  to  find. 
The  few  pieces  which  I  have  discovered  are  marked  by 
much  of  the  amused  disdain  for  the  opponent  which  Is 
found  in  many  of  our  caricatures  of  the  Spanish-American 
War,  but  by  none  of  the  bitter  prejudice  which  character- 
ized a  few  of  the  latter.  Uncle  Sam's  Taylorifics  (the 
Yankee  snipping  a  Mexican  in  two  with  a  huge  pair  of 


CARICATURE  255 

shears)  and  The  Mexican  Commander  enjoying  the  Pros- 
pect opposite  Matamoras  (1846),  a  lithograph  by  Sarony 
&  Major,  copyrighted  by  T.  W.  Strong,  illustrate  this 
spirit  of  complacent  superiority.  This  Sarony  &  Major 
print  is  drawn  with  a  certain  freedom  not  common  even 
to  the  best  lithographic  cartoons  of  the  day. 

Of  these  caricatures  drawn  on  stone  and  issued  in  sep- 
arate sheets,  those  bearing  the  name  of  Currier  &  Ives, 
who  entered  the  field  about  1848,  are  best  known  and 
most  numerous.  Caricature  is  the  common  and  conveni- 
ent name  for  this  pictorial  satire,  but  the  feature  of  dis- 
tortion was  noticeably  absent,  down  through  the  Civil 
War.  As  far  as  the  skill  of  the  artist  went,  the  person- 
ages represented  were  depicted  without  exaggeration. 
The  tendency  was  to  draw  groups  of  political  leaders, 
with  a  free  use  of  loops  issuing  from  their  mouths  and 
inclosing  sentiments  which  they  are  supposed  to  utter. 
The  general  effect  of  it  all  is  somewhat  stiff  and  labored. 

But  it  is  an  interesting  series,  this  lot  of  cartoons  of 
ante-bellum  and  war-time  days,  recalling  much  detail  of 
our  political  history.  As  they  did  not  appear  at  regular 
intervals,  but  at  the  time  of  stirring  public  events,  most 
of  them  were  concomitants  of  presidential  campaigns.  In 
1848,  Marcy,  Cass,  Douglas,  Buchanan  and  Houston, 
towed  "  up  Salt  River  "  by  fox-bodied  Van  Buren,  are 
labeled  Loco  Foco  Candidates  traveling.  Fillmore  pro- 
tects the  "  government  crib  "  in  Fancied  Security,  or  the 
Rats  on  a  Bender.  Webster,  Scott  and  Pierce  take  part 
in  the  Great  Foot  Race  for  the  Presidential  Purse  {$100,- 
000  and  Pickings)  over  the  Union  Course,  18^2.     When 


256  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

the  slavery  and  state's  rights  controversies  came  to  a 
head  in  the  movement  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
the  Republican  Party,  public  feeling  ran  high  and  the 
campaign  of  1856  brought  out  much  anti-Fremont  mate- 
rial. In  The  Great  Republican  Reform  Party  calling  on 
their  Candidate,  Fremont  is  promising  the  prohibitionist, 
woman's  rights  lady,  socialist,  free  love  advocate,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  the  negro  all  they  want. 
And  in  The  Great  Presidential  Sweepstakes  of  1856 
Beecher  and  Greeley  are  helping  along  a  sorry  outfit  con- 
taining Fremont,  which  appears  again  in  The  Mustang 
Team,  the  latter  particularly  free  in  drawing.  One  feels 
in  such  sheets,  despite,  or  perhaps  by  very  reason  of,  the 
expressed  contempt  for  the  new  party,  the  feeling  of  un- 
certainty and  unrest  engendered  by  the  approach  of  that 
irrepressible  conflict,  to  which  so  many  apparently  tried 
to  close  their  eyes,  but  which  came  on  inexorably. 

Some  phases  of  the  slavery  controversy  had  been 
touched  upon  by  the  satirist's  pencil.  For  instance  in 
E.  C/s  depiction  of  Buchanan  and  the  slave  question, 
or  Practical  illustration  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  (the 
slaveholder  astride  of  Webster  on  all-fours)  or  What's 
Sauce  for  the  Goose  is  sauce  for  the  Gander,  a  lithograph 
by  E.  W .  C., — E.  W.  Clay,  no  doubt, — dealing  with 
Northern  protection  of  fugitive  slaves.  In  most  cases  the 
pictures  showed  pro-slavery  leanings.  Abolitionism  was 
repeatedly  attacked,  with  especial  emphasis  on  the  dire 
effects  of  miscegenation.  So  in  Prof.  Pompey  magnetiz- 
ing an  Abolition  Lady  (a  lithograph  issued  by  T.  W. 
Strong,    the    wood-engraver),    and    An    Amalgamation 


CARICATURE  257 

Polka,  a  lithograph  by  E.  W.  C,  our  Phlladelphian,  Clay, 
again.  Buchanan's  attitude  gave  rise  to  such  cartoons  as 
L.  Maurer's  Ostend  Doctrine:  Practical  Democrats  carry- 
ing out  the  Principle  with  the  president  inactive,  or  South 
Carolina's  Ultimatum,  in  which  Gov.  Pickens  is  shown 
as  wanting  Sumter,  while  Buchanan  entreats :  Don't  fire 
till  I  get  out  of  office.  In  another,  Buchanan  is  riding 
the  dragon  of  slavery,  and  exclaims.  Pull  down  that  fence, 
and  make  way  for  the  "  Peculiar  Institution,"  the  fence 
being  Mason  and  Dixon's  line;  Fremont  strongly  objects. 

Lithography,  however,  did  not  monopolize  this  spe- 
cialty of  caricature  altogether.  The  woodcut  served  for 
a  number  of  these  comic  sheets,  T.  W.  Strong  appear- 
ing as  publisher  in  several  cases,  the  designer  usually 
anonymous,  in  one  case  signed  in  full:  /.  H.  Goater.  In 
one  of  Strong's  cuts  entitled  Little  Bo  Peep  and  her  foolish 
Sheep,  the  shepherdess,  Columbia,  seeing  her  sheep  (the 
seceding  states)  departing,  exclaims.  Sick  'em.  Buck — / 
wish  old  Hickory  were  alive,  he'd  bring  'em  hack  in  no 
time. 

Then  followed  the  presidential  campaign  of  i860,  in 
which  political  feeling  was  at  a  high  tension.  One  cannot 
recall  any  cartoon  issued  in  New  York  which  really  gave 
expression  to  the  Union  sentiments  which  the  election  of 
Lincoln  and  subsequent  events  were  to  fan  into  a  roaring 
flame.  A  few  designs  of  well-tempered  Republicanism, 
and  as  for  the  rest,  evasive  presentations  of  not  fully 
relevant  facts  or  of  distorted  views.  In  The  Rail  Can- 
didate, the  railsplitter,  carried  by  Greeley  and  a  negro 
astride  a  rail  marked  Republican  Platform,  complains: 


258  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

"  I  begin  to  feel  as  if  this  rail  would  split  me,  it's  the 
hardest  stick  I  ever  straddled."  Other  sheets  in  this 
series  of  lithographs  are  The  Nigger  in  the  Woodpile, 
An  Heir  to  the  Throne  (Greeley  and  Lincoln  compla- 
cently regarding  the  "heir,"  Barnum's  "  What-is-it?  ") 
and  The  Impending  Crisis,  both  by  Maurer,  and  The 
irrepressible  Conflict,  the  last  two  dealing  with  Seward's 
failure  to  obtain  the  Republican  nomination,  and  Greeley's 
agency  in  the  matter.  Mr.  Bishop,  who  had  his  in- 
formation from  James  M.  Ives,  stated  that  all  of  these 
caricatures  of  1856  and  i860  were  drawn  by  Louis 
Maurer.  The  latter,  however,  told  me  that  they  were 
not  all  by  him,  and  identified  a  number  of  them  as  his 
work.  These  include,  beside  those  which  I  have  named 
as  his,  The  Great  American  Buck  Hunt  of  1856,  The 
Political  Gymnasium,  Letting  the  Cat  out  of  the  Bag, 
Honest  Abe  taking  them  on  the  Half  Shell,  Storming 
the  Castle  and  The  Great  Republican  Party.  The  Cur- 
rier &  Ives  lithographs  have  been  reproduced  In  a  volume 
with  the  title :  "  Caricatures  pertaining  to  the  Civil  War 
.  .  .  1856-72,"  issued  in  New  York,  1892,  in  an  edi- 
tion of  150  copies. 

With  the  election  of  Lincoln  the  storm  broke  loose, 
and  some  of  the  caricatures  produced  in  the  white  heat 
of  excitement  In  those  troublous  times  were  among  the 
most  telling  of  the  war.  And  they  were  often  not  the 
regular  lithographed  sheets,  but  sporadic  woodcut  issues. 
The  conceit  which  showed  the  seceding  states  as  mice 
scampering  away  from  "  Uncle  Abe  "  In  the  guise  of  a 
cat,  whose  paw  holds  down  a  rodent  labeled  Virginia,  and 


CARICATURE  259 

which  is  appropriately  entitled  Virginia  pausing,  opens  up 
the  long  series  of  these  war-time  pictures.  In  many  cases 
they  appeared  on  envelopes,  which  method  of  publication 
was  a  very  much  used  means  for  the  dissemination  of 
both  Northern  and  Southern  viev/s;  the  designs  and 
mottoes  thus  issued  were  numbered  by  hundreds.  There 
was  much  patriotic  fervor,  occasional  bitterness  and  more 
often  good  humor.  Vm  glad  I'm  not  in  Dixie!  Hooray! 
Hooray!;  Come  back  here,  you  black  Rascal! — Can't 
come  back  nohow,  Massa,  dis  Chile's  contraban' ;  Music 
by  the  Contra-Band  and  Good  Noose  for  Traitors  (in 
which  a  picture  of  a  hangman's  rope  left  no  doubt  as  to 
the  pun  intended),  are  sufficiently  clear  in  title  and  are 
average  examples  of  the  kind  of  humor  thus  disseminated 
through  the  mails.  I  have  seen  seven  different  repro- 
ductions in  reduced  size,  on  envelopes,  of  a  remarkably 
popular  early  war-time  caricature  by  Frank  Beard,  Why 
don't  you  take  it?,  representing  Davis  as  a  greyhound 
slinking  off  before  the  ferocious  air  of  a  bulldog  (Gen. 
Scott)  guarding  a  rib  of  prize  beef  (Washington).  D. 
M.  Stauffer  did  several  of  these  envelope  designs  in 
1862,  in  small  editions,  however.  Others  beside  Beard 
made  an  early  appearance  in  those  days.  Thomas  Worth, 
for  instance,  in  The  Voluntary  Manner  in  which  some  of 
the  Southern  Volunteers  enlist,  or  Benjamin  Day — become 
a  caricaturist  only  through  the  exigencies  of  the  moment 
— who  depicts  Lincoln  and  Davis  as  prizefighters,  in  a 
lithograph  entitled  Caving  in,  or  a  Rebel  deeply  humili- 
ated. 

A  probably  casual  incursion  into  a  vein  of  mild  humor, 


26o  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

on  the  part  of  E.  B.  &  E.  C.  Kellogg,  the  Hartford 
lithographic  firm,  is  entitled  Forward  March — Uncle 
Sam's  old  Hens  covering  their  Chickens  on  the  way  to 
Richmond,  the  hens  being  the  gunboats  steaming  up  the 
river  and  spreading  their  wings  over  the  chickens, — the 
soldiers  marching  on  the  banlcs.  Another  publisher's 
name  out  of  the  common  is  that  of  Hough,  of  Philadel- 
phia, on  a  lithograph  which  proclaims  The  Southern  Con- 
federacy a  Fact,  because  it  has  been  acknowledged  by 
the  devil. 

It  was  during  the  war,  too,  that  Thomas  Nast  began 
in  a  series  of  emblematic  drawings  that  life-work  which 
made  him  famous.  Compromise  with  the  South,  refer- 
ring to  the  attitude  of  the  Chicago  Convention,  made  a 
notable  hit  in  "  Harper's  Weekly,"  and  was  subsequently 
used  as  a  campaign  document.  A.  B.  Paine,  in  his  vol- 
ume on  Nast  (1904),  quotes  Lincoln:  "Thomas  Nast 
has  been  our  best  recruiting  sergeant.  His  emblematic 
cartoons  have  never  failed  to  arouse  enthusiasm  and 
patriotism." 

Lincoln  naturally  held  the  center  of  the  stage  in  many 
of  the  pictorial  lampoons  of  the  war.  The  lukewarm 
or  straight  anti-Lincoln  productions  apparently  greatly 
outnumbered  those  supporting  him.  Among  the  first  may 
be  named  such  lithographs  as  The  political  Rail  Splitter 
driving  the  wedge  "  Irrepressible  Conflict "  into  the  log 
"  Union,"  splitting  it  into  North  and  South,  or  the  one 
by  Joseph  E.  Baker  of  Boston,  Columbia  demands  her 
Children,  she  asking  back  her  500,000  sons,  to  which 
Lincoln  remarks,  "  That  reminds  me  of  a  story."     This 


CARICATURE  261 

phrase  was  used  against  Lincoln  in  various  ways,  and  his 
love  of  humor  was  assailed  most  bitterly  in  a  poorly 
drawn  sheet  entitled  The  Commander-in-Chief  conciliat- 
ing the  Soldiers'  Votes  on  the  Battlefield.  This  repre- 
sented him  amid  dead  and  wounded  soldiers,  saying,  to 
the  horror  of  the  listeners :  "  Now,  Marshal,  sing  us 
*  Picayune  Butler '  or  something  else  that's  funny."  On 
the  other  hand,  Grand  Sweepstakes  for  1862  won  by  the 
celebrated  Horse  Emancipation,  a  lithograph  signed 
Potomac,  signalizes  approvingly  an  important  act  of  Lin- 
coln's administration.  Occasionally  there  was  a  cartoon 
strong  for  Lincoln;  such  was  A  little  Game  of  Bagatelle, 
between  Old  Abe  the  Railsplitter  and  Little  Mac  the 
Gunboat  General,  a  lithograph  published  by  J.  L.  Magee 
of  Philadelphia,  and  signed  /.  L.  M.  Your  Plan  and 
Mine,  a  Currier  and  Ives  shdfet,  put  the  case  even  more 
strongly  in  Lincoln's  favor;  Tie  completely  subdues  the 
South  and  keeps  the  negro  free,  while  his  opponent 
weakly  attempts  conciliation  and  is  ready  to  restore  the 
black  man  to  slavery.  Political  caricature  No.  2,  186^, 
pictures  Miscegenation  as  the  Millenniiivi  of  Abolition- 
ism, and  No.  3  of  the  same  series  prophesies  The  Aboli- 
tion Catastrophe,  or  The  November  Smash-up.  But  fate 
willed  otherwise;  Lincoln  was  re-elected,  and  the  war  was 
carried  on  to  success  for  the  North.  Jefferson  Davis' 
attempt  to  escape  from  the  Union  soldiers  who  had  him 
in  charge  was  chronicled  in  a  more  or  less  humorous 
manner  in  more  than  one  print,  even  in  a  pamphlet  en- 
titled "  Jeff  Petticoats,"  with  "  graphotype  "  illustrations 
"  drawn  by  the  celebrated  artist  Frank  Bellew  on  the 


262  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

chemical  blocks  of  the  Intaglio  and  Graphotype  Co.  and 
engraved  by  them  in  the  short  time  of  two  hours." 
These  pictures  usually  did  not  go  very  much  beyond  the 
facts  in  the  case,  and  there  is  really  more  point  to  the 
grim  conception  of  Jef  Davis  on  his  own  Platform  or  the 
last  Act  of  Secession,  in  which  that  prominent  representa- 
tive of  the  "  lost  cause  "  stands,  with  the  hangman's  noose 
about  his  neck,  on  a  trap  about  to  be  sprung. 

Gen.  McClellan  likewise  came  in  for  some  share  of 
pictorial  applause  and  criticism,  mirroring  the  hopes  which 
he  aroused  and  the  general  opinion  of  his  generalship. 
He  appears  in  masterly  inactivity  at  his  Headquarters 
at  Harrisbiirg  Landing,  in  a  lithograph  by  Potomac,  who 
designed  another  one,  The  last  Round,  which  was  pro- 
McClellan  in  spirit.  The  old  Bull  Dog  on  the  right 
Track  (Grant)  is  contrasted  with  the  protesting  "little 
Mac,"  to  the  latter's  disadvantage.  In  The  true  Issue, 
or  that's  what's  the  matter,  Lincoln  and  Davis  are  hauling 
at  opposite  sides  of  a  map  of  the  United  States,  the  former 
proclaiming  "  No  Peace  without  abolition  "  and  the  lat- 
ter "  No  peace  without  separation,"  while  McClellan 
stays  their  hands,  with  the  sentiment  "  The  Union  must 
be  preserved  at  all  hazards."  This  last  was  probably 
issued  at  the  time  of  the  presidential  campaign  of  1864, 
which  was  the  occasion  of  a  number  of  cartoons  friendly 
to  the  general  in  politics.  One,  by  J.  E.  Baker,  shows 
a  wounded  soldier  forced  by  a  negro  guard  to  vote  for 
Lincoln  instead  of  the  Democratic  candidate,  while  the 
poll-clerks  pretend  not  to  see.  The  difficulties  of  his 
position  were  pictured  three  times  at  least  in  that  familiar 


CARICATURE  263 

conception  of  a  circus-rider  with  each  foot  on  a  horse, 
the  equines  striving  in  different  directions.  In  the  one, 
a  reproduction  of  a  pen-and-ink  drawing  somewhat  in  the 
style  of  Augustus  Hoppin,  the  horses  are  labeled  re- 
spectively Letter  of  acceptance  and  Chicago  Platform; 
m  the  second,  Slow  and  Steady  wins  the  Race,  Lincoln 
rides  "  Slow  and  Steady,"  while  McClellan's  two  steeds 
are  "Brag  and  Bluster"  and  "Fawn  and  Cringe";  in 
the  third,  Little  Mac  in  his  great  Two-Horse  Act  is  striv- 
ing to  control  his  mounts  "  Peace  "  and  "  War,"  with 
Lincoln  as  a  clown  standing  by.  This  last  sheet  was 
one  of  T.  W.  Strong's  woodcut  publications,  the  drawing 
by  J.  H.  Howard,  a  sort  of  weaker  McLenan,  and  illus- 
trator of  Major  Jack  Downing.  Howard  designed  also 
the  engraving  of  MacClellan  as  Hamlet  holding  the  head 
of  Lincoln :  /  knew  him,  Horatio;  a  fellow  of  infinite  jest. 
.  .  .  Where  he  your  gibes  now?  The  Grave  of  the 
Union,  or  Major  Jack  D owning' s  Dream,  drawn  by  Zeke 
(a  lithograph  issued  by  Bromley  &  Co.,  1864)  represents 
Lincoln,  Greeley  et  al.  burying  the  Constitution  and  free 
speech. 

There  was  at  least  some  Confederate  response  through 
the  medium  of  the  comic  art.  The  Battle  of  Bull  Run 
brought  forth  a  derisive  whoop  in  the  shape  of  a  very  poor 
lithograph  from  a  pfothogr.,  and  B.  Duncan  of  Colum- 
bia, S.  C,  issued  a  series  of  better  designed  plates  with 
the  suggestive  title  Dissolving  Views  of  Richmond,  one 
signed  with  a  monogram  /.  fV.  But  the  most  interesting 
and,  by  all  odds,  best  designed  Southern  production  was 
a  series  of  etched  fVar  Sketches  by  V.  Blada,  partly  issued 


264  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

abroad  (London,  1864).  Drawn  mainly  in  outline,  with 
a  quite  free  touch,  these  plates,  though  free  from  cari- 
cature— except  the  slight  exaggeration  in  such  a  case  as 
Valiant  men  "  dat  file  mit  Sigel " — are  satirical  and  vigor- 
ous arraignments  of  Northern  principles  and  practice. 
Free  Negroes  in  the  North  and  in  Hayti  are  contrasted, 
and  the  Substitute  Office  is  derided. 

When  we  draw  a  line  under  the  long  Civil  War  column, 
and  add  up  the  total  the  sum  is  not  so  very  impressive 
quahtatively.  The  possibilities  of  the  period  were  per- 
haps not  fully  grasped  by  our  caricaturists.  In  fact,  we 
had  no  commanding  figure  among  them,  and  we  must  go 
to  Tenniel's  cartoons  in  London  "  Punch  "  to  get  com- 
ments more  in  accord  with  the  importance  of  this  four 
years'  struggle.  This  is  said,  of  course,  without  reference 
to  the  ideas  and  point  of  view  expressed  in  Tenniel's  draw- 
ings. As  far  as  his  treatment  of  Lincoln  was  concerned, 
he  joined  with  Tom  Taylor  in  an  amende  honorable 
when  the  president  was  struck  down  by  the  assassin's 
hand. 

The  years  have  gone  and  have  begun  to  envelop  the 
events  of  those  war-time  days  in  the  haze  of  intervening 
time.  In  the  lengthening  perspective  of  the  passing  gen- 
erations, we  are  becoming  able  to  regard  even  the  bitterest 
examples  of  pictorial  satire,  both  Northern  and  Southern, 
with  more  calmness  of  spirit,  as  documents  mirroring  the 
high-tension  excitement  of  an  exciting  period. 

The  preponderance  of  the  lithographed  separate  sheets 
in  the  field  of  caricature  came  to  an  end  soon  after  the 
Civil  War.     They  continued  to  be  issued,  notably  in  the 


CARICATURE  265 

distorted,  though  In  a  rough  way  funny,  "  Darktown  " 
negro  comics  of  Thomas  Worth,  but  as  an  effective 
weapon  In  the  political  arena  they  gave  way  before  the 
work  of  the  comic  press  and  the  cartoons  in  the  weekly 
Illustrated  journals. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  COMIC  PAPER 

The  comic  paper  entered  more  decidedly  into  the  field 
of  caricature  not  long  after  the  Civil  War.  There  had 
been  previous  attempts  to  found  periodicals  devoted  to 
humor. 

"Yankee  Doodle"  appeared  in  1856,  with  Charles 
Martin  as  the  principal  artist  and  Darley  as  an  occa- 
sional contributor.  "  Yankee  Notions,  or,  Whittlings  of 
Jonathan's  Jack-knife,"  issued  as  a  monthly  by  T.  W. 
Strong  of  New  York,  made  its  appearance  in  January, 
1852.  A  year  later  it  advertised  a  circulation  of  15,000, 
which  rose  to  30,000  by  December,  1853,  and  to  150,000 
in  September,  1854.  It  lived  about  fifteen  years.  Au- 
gustus Hoppin  had  a  full-page  drawing  in  each  number, 
and  the  contributing  artists  included  the  best  talent  of  its 
time  and  others:  John  McLenan,  Frank  Bellew  ("the 
triangle  "),  Thomas  Butler  Gunn,  Magee,  Holcomb,  G. 
F.  F.,  Brown,  H.  Egbert,  Jr.,  Folingsby,  J.  H.  Howard, 
Dallas,  Wattles,  and  one  signing  with  skull  and  cross- 
bones.  Some  drawings  appeared  also  signed  "  Carl,"  the 
pseudonym  of  G.  W.  Carleton  the  publisher,  who  later 
put  a  little  bird  under  his  sketches  (as  did  "Dicky" 
Doyle  of  London  "Punch").  His  very  amateurish 
though  amusing  manner  is  shown  in  "  Our  Artist  in 
Peru  "  (1866)  and  other  similar  books.    We  have  seen 

266 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  267 

such  pleasant  dilettante  foolery  recently,  particularly  in 
Robert  W.  Wood's  "  How  to  tell  the  Birds  from  the 
Flowers  "  (1907),  with  its  kinship  to  Lear.  By  1859-60 
Thomas  Worth  and  M.  A.  Woolf  were  also  among  the 
contributors  to  "  Yankee  Notions,"  as  well  as,  occasion- 
ally, W.  L.  Sheppard  and,  I  think,  E.  F.  Mullen.  There 
were  appropriations  from  foreign  sources  too,  for  while 
aspersions  were  cast  more  than  once  on  the  wit  of  London 
"  Punch,"  that  journal's  cuts  were  not  disdained  and  were 
used  without  credit  given. 

McLenan  was  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  artists  of 
this  group.  His  bohemian  nature  was  evidenced  both  in 
the  often  carelessly  sketchy  drawing  of  his  work,  and  in 
the  dash  and  spirit,  the  rollicking  humor  in  his  "  comics." 
As  an  illustrator  he  had  to  turn  his  hand  to  various  things, 
even  Collins's  "  Woman  in  White,"  but  it  is  as  a  comic 
artist  that  he  really  made  his  mark.  The  late  A.  V.  S. 
Anthony  told  me  that  D.  C.  Hitchcock  discovered  Mc- 
Lenan working  in  a  pork-packing  establishment  in  Cin- 
cinnati, where  he  used  to  make  sketches  on  the  tops  of 
barrels.  Among  the  books  illustrated  by  him  was  "  Noth- 
ing to  Say  "  by  Mortimer  M.  Thompson  ("  Doesticks  "), 
issued  at  the  time  of  the  "  Nothing  to  Wear  "  contro- 
versy. 

There  came  and  went  other  periodical  vehicles  for 
humor:  "The  Lantern,"  edited,  like  "The  Bubble,"  by 
John  Brougham,  one  of  whose  drawings,  hanging  in  the 
Players'  Club,  New  York  City,  is  signed  Brougham,  de- 
linquent; "John  Donkey"  (Philadelphia);  "Young 
America";  "The  Picayune"   (outlet  for  the  humor  of 


268  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Mortimer  Thompson);  "The  Carpet  Bag"  in  Boston, 
with  B.  P.  Shillaber;  "  Mrs.  Grundy"  (three  months  in 
1865,  Nast  and  Stephens  the  artists)  ;  "  Phunny  Phel- 
low"  (Nast  again);  "Jolly  Joker";  "The  Punster" 
(Mobile,  early  seventies),  and  what  others  besides.  C. 
G.  Rosenberg  even  tried  to  establish  a  humorous  daily, 
"  Momus,"  in  the  fifties. 

The  best  of  all,  from  the  literary  standpoint,  was 
"Vanity  Fair"  (New  York),  with  Fitz-James  O'Brien, 
"  Artemus  Ward"  (Charles  F.  Browne),  George  Ar- 
nold and  C.  G.  Leland  among  its  writers,  and  Henry  L. 
Stephens,  E.  F.  Mullen  (illustrator  of  "  Artemus  Ward: 
His  Book  "),  J.  H.  Goater,  W.  Fiske,  H.  Helmick,  Ben 
Day  (whose  work  was  reproduced  in  "  graphotype  "), 
and  Carleton  as  its  principal  artists.  Stephens  did  the 
cartoons  (with  the  exception  of  a  few,  e.g.,  one  by  the 
painter  R.  Wylie),  a  task  for  which  he  was  equipped  in 
a  measure.  His  drawing,  despite  evident  mannerisms, 
had  grace  and  easy  flow  of  line,  but  it  lacked  the  vigor 
of  expression  and  of  characterization  necessary  in  the 
make-up  of  a  really  successful  cartoonist.  "  Vanity 
Fair"  held  from  1859  on  until  1863.  Possibly  the 
reason  for  its  failure  was  that  the  public  had  no  stomach 
in  those  days  for  graceful  fooling  and  literary  humor. 
It  was  a  time  for  vigorous  blows  in  the  field,  on  the 
rostrum,  in  the  editorial  column,  from  the  caricaturist's 
pencil.  There  were  a  few  references  to  incompetent  of- 
ficers advanced  by  political  pull,  or  to  dishonest  con- 
tractors, as  in  the  small  cut  by  Elihu  Vedder  depicting 
some  soldiers  who  find  their  blankets  more  suited  to  use 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  269 

as  fishing  nets  than  for  their  legitimate  purpose.  Or  the 
pictorial  comparison,  Heroes  of  the  war  (penniless, 
maimed  veterans)  and  He  rose  by  the  war  (a  fattened 
contractor).  But  there  is  not  much  that  strikes  you  as 
a  blow  from  the  shoulder,  a  bull's-eye  scored.  When  the 
cartoons  do  not  show  the  distinctly  anti-administration 
feeling  that  characterized  not  a  little  of  the  comic  art 
of  the  day,  they  are  apt  often  to  give  a  lukewarm  im- 
pression. It  is  not  so  much  the  telling  force  of  satire 
that  is  felt  as  the  mildly  humorous  comment  of  an  amused 
spectator.  About  the  same  characterization  will  describe 
the  cartoons  in  "Punchinello"  (April,  1870-December, 
1 871),  also  by  Stephens.  We  meet  other  familiar  names 
under  the  cuts  in  this  journal :  A.  Hoppin,  J.  H.  Howard, 
F.  Bellew,  W.  Fiske,  Sheppard;  and  some  new  ones:  F. 
T.  Merrill  (later  known  as  an  illustrator),  George  B. 
Bowlend,  F.  S.  Cozzens  and  J.  A.  Mitchell,  by  whom 
there  is  one  cut,  in  no  wise  foreshadowing  his  subsequent 
grace  of  style. 

It  was  with  the  advent  of  Thomas  Nast,  the  Bavarian 
who  caught  the  spirit  of  the  time,  that  the  sledge-hammer 
force  of  pictorial  satire  exerted  in  a  just  cause  was  felt  in 
all  its  potency.  In  1862,  amid  the  clamor  for  "peace 
at  any  price,"  Nast,  who  had  been  doing  illustrating 
successively  for  "  Leslie's,"  the  "  New  York  Illustrated 
News  "  and  "  Harper's,"  drew  for  the  last  journal  a 
double-page  emblematic  picture  entitled  Peace.  It 
showed  Columbia  weeping  at  a  Union  soldier's  grave, 
while  the  dead  one's  companion,  stripped  of  arms,  is 
shaking  hands  with  a  Southern  soldier  armed  to  the  teeth 


270  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

and  with  one  foot  on  the  grave.  "  That  picture  made  his 
reputation,"  said  "Petroleum  V.  Nasby "  (David  R. 
Locke,  whose  "Struggles  of  P.  V.  Nasby,"  1872,  was 
illustrated  by  Nast),  in  an  interview  (1871)  quoted  by 
Frederic  Hudson  in  his  "  Journalism  in  the  United 
States,"  and  added:  "  It  was  circulated  by  the  million  as 
a  campaign  document."  Nast  had  done  occasional  small 
"  comics,"  but  in  his  large  drawings  he  continued  in  this 
emblematic  vein,  often  surrounding  his  central  composi- 
tion with  a  number  of  smaller  ones,  and  appealing  now 
to  patriotism  and  human  justice,  as  in  War  in  the  Border 
States  and  Southern  Chivalry ,  and  again  simply  to  the 
sentiments  of  domestic  affection,  as  in  Christmas  Eve. 
But  with  the  campaign  of  1868  he  entered  definitely  into 
political  caricature.  His  strong  defence  of  the  Union 
cause,  his  arraignment  of  the  Canal  Ring  in  New  York 
State  and  his  castigation  of  the  Tweed  Ring  in  New  York 
City  were  accomplished  with  fierce  and  fearless  earnest- 
ness in  a  series  of  cartoons  that  form  imperishable  pages 
in  the  annals  of  caricature.  In  the  case  of  the  anti- 
Greeley  compositions  in  the  presidential  campaign  of 
1872,  one's  admiration  of  Nast's  bitter,  unrelenting  in- 
genuity in  probing  and  laying  bare  every  little  weakness 
is  tempered  by  sympathy  for  the  chief  object  of  his  at- 
tacks, the  distinguished  journalist  who  suffered  so  under 
his  defeat,  and  by  respect  for  men  such  as  Sumner,  Curtis, 
Schurz  and  the  principles  they  stood  for.  Nast's  energy 
never  failed  him,  and  he  had  a  remarkable  power  of  em- 
phasizing the  salient  characteristics  of  a  face.  In  time 
his  strength  waned,  and  his  manner  dropped  into  a  multi- 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  271 

tudinous  display  of  labels  all  over  the  drawing,  once 
lampooned  in  *'  Puck."  It  is,  however,  Nast  of  his  best 
period  whom  we  remember  with  satisfaction  and  with 
warm  appreciation  of  his  great  service  to  the  public. 
The  story  of  his  life  has  been  well  and  sympathetically 
told  by  Albert  Bigelow  Paine  (1904).  His  biographer 
traces  to  him  the  introduction  of  various  symbolical 
devices  dear  to  the  caricaturist, — the  square  paper  cap 
of  labor,  the  full  dinner  pail,  the  Tammany  tiger,  and 
the  "  inflation  "  rag  baby  of  1875. 

Nast's  best  work  was  done  for  "  Harper's  Weekly," 
and  that  journal's  cartoon  feature  was  adopted  also  by 
"  Leslie's,"  which  early  in  the  seventies  brought  over 
Matt  Morgan  as  a  rival  to  Nast.  Morgan  had  been 
connected  with  "  Fun,"  in  London,  a  number  of  his  con- 
tributions to  that  journal  being  republished  in  a  volume 
of  "American  War  Cartoons"  (1879).  He  had  also 
drawn  some  startlingly  bold  cartoons  for  the  London 
"  Tomahawk,"  but  these  attacks  on  the  Queen  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales  were  found  too  caustic,  and  the  journal, 
begun  in  1867,  soon  went  out  of  existence.  Morgan  did 
not  make  his  mark  in  this  country  as  a  political  cari- 
caturist, however, — although  his  artistic  influence  was  felt 
in  the  periodicals  with  which  he  was  connected, — but  in 
the  domains  of  the  poster  and  of  scene-painting.  Kep- 
pler  also  cartooned  for  "  Leslie's  "  before  he  started  his 
New  York  "  Puck."  The  "  Daily  Graphic  "  had  Th. 
Wust  (1874-5),  Charles  S.  Reinhart  (1876),  Grant 
Hamilton  (1883),  A.  B.  Frost,  E.  W.  Kemble  and  Fer- 
nando Miranda  as  cartoonists.     And  Mirall  drew  very 


272  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

mild  and  gentlemanly  specimens  of  what  the  French  call 
portraits-charges  for  "  The  Hour  "  in  the  eighties, — por- 
traits of  noted  individuals,  with  a  slight  admixture  of 
witty  or  satirical  allusion.  It  was  a  sort  of  thing  often 
well  done  in  "  Vanity  Fair,"  of  London,  and  by  Bellew 
in  the  "  Fifth  Avenue  Journal,"  of  New  York,  and  seen 
here  notably  in  Puckographs,  appearing  in  "  Puck  "  and 
drawn  usually  by  Keppler  and  occasionally  by  J.  A.  Wales 
and  F.  Graetz. 

What  may  be  called  social  caricature,  as  distinct  from 
political,  continued  mainly  in  cuts  on  the  last  pages  of 
weekly  and  monthly  publications.  There  were  the  little 
"  comics  "  in  the  "  bric-a-brac  "  section  of  "  Scribner's," 
in  the  late  seventies,  drawn  by  Livingston  Hopkins  (who 
wrote  and  illustrated  a  comic  history  of  the  Uhited 
States  and  subsequently  went  to  Australia  to  cartoon  for 
the  Sydney  "  Bulletin," — see  "  Review  of  Reviews," 
January,  1893),  F.  B.  Opper,  F.  S.  Church,  E.  A.  Abbey, 
Mullen,  Addie  Ledyard,  M.  A.  Woolf,  Bellew  and 
Howard  Pyle.  Elsewhere,  too,  appeared  those  little  tail- 
end  "  comics  "  which  have  long  been  a  feature  in  many 
of  our  illustrated  magazines.  So  the  "  Book  of  cheer- 
ful Cats,"  by  J.  G.  Francis  (1892),  was  made  up 
of  contributions  to  "  St.  Nicholas "  and  other  publi- 
cations. 

While  Nast  was  cartooning  "  Harper's  Weekly  "  into 
a  political  force,  attempts  to  establish  journals  entirely 
devoted  to  the  comic  art  still  went  on.  Frederic  Hud- 
son, in  his  "Journalism  in  the  United  States"  (New 
York,  1873),  has  a  chapter  devoted  to  this  phase  of  our 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  273 

periodical  press.  He  stated  his  belief  that  the  American 
public  did  not  want  its  humor  in  weekly  doses,  but  pre- 
ferred it  in  the  morning  paper,  with  its  breakfast  coffee. 
Recounting  the  different  efforts  to  found  a  comic  paper, 
he  concluded:  "  and  Puck,  of  St.  Louis,  how  is  he?  " 

This  same  "  Puck  "  was  founded  by  Joseph  Keppler 
(1838-94),  who,  coming  from  Vienna,  where  he  had 
drawn  for  "  Der  Floh  "  and  "  Kikeriki,"  had  first  tried 
his  fortunes  as  an  actor  in  St.  Louis,  and  had  then  started 
"Die  Vehme  "  (1870)  and  after  its  demise  "Puck" 
(1871).  On  the  failure  of  "  Puck"  he  came  in  1873  to 
New  York  City,  where  he  found  employment  as  a  car- 
toonist on  "  Frank  Leslie's  Weekly."  In  1876  he  became 
associated  with  Schwarzmann  in  the  establishment  of 
"  Puck,"  a  German  weekly,  which  half  a  year  later  began 
to  appear  also  in  an  English  edition.  Previous  ventures 
in  the  field  of  humorous  journalism  had  usually  been 
modeled  on  the  pattern  of  "  Punch,"  at  least  as  far  as 
appearance  was  concerned.  There  was  a  full-page  car- 
toon on  the  two  middle  pages,  and  in  some  of  the  publica- 
tions a  half-page  drawing  on  the  front  or  title-page  of 
each  number.  The  drawings  were  invariably  reproduced 
by  wood-engraving,  excepting  toward  the  end  of  the  Civil 
War,  when  there  was  an  occasional  cut  in  *'  Graphotype," 
or  perhaps  some  other  chemical  process.  These  conven- 
tions were  disregarded  in  *'  Puck,"  which  offered  three 
cartoons  in  each  number,  and  with  cartoons  produced 
by  lithography,  was  soon  able  to  add  the  effect  of  color. 
At  first  the  cartoons  were  printed  in  black-and-white; 
then  two  tints — added  from  wood  blocks — were  used,  one 


274  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

at  the  top,  the  other  at  the  bottom,  both  merging  in  the 
center.  Further  effect  was  gained  by  lightening  by  means 
of  coarse  white  lines  in  the  tints.  Finally,  Keppler's  pre- 
dilection for  color  found  fuller  satisfaction  in  the  com- 
pleter chromatic  glory  of  hues  and  tints  lithographically 
produced.  It  was  uphill  work  at  first;  Keppler  drew  all 
three  cartoons  himself,  like  Mark  Twain,  "  without  out- 
side help,"  as  well  as  some  of  the  smaller  illustrations 
and  even  occasional  advertisements.  But  success  came, 
and  "  Puck  "  gradually  drew  to  itself  the  best  talent  in 
the  land,  and  levied  tribute  also  on  its  chief  artist's  father- 
land, Austria.  Karl  Edler  von  Stur  and  F.  Graetz  were 
successively  imported  from  Vienna  (Graetz's  views  on 
America,  expressed  with  an  incisive  pen-stroke,  were  pe- 
culiarly interesting).  Frederick  Burr  Opper,  some  of 
whose  comics  had  appeared  in  "  Scribner's  Magazine," 
developed  remarkably  while  with  "  Puck."  T.  Bernard 
Gillam,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  who  had  cartooned  for 
the  "  Graphic "  and  *'  Harper's  Weekly,"  had  in  his 
drawing  a  severity  of  manner  reminiscent  of  Tenniel. 
Eugene  Zimmerman  showed  a  tendency  to  grotesquery 
apparently  suppressed  somewhat.  James  A.  Wales,  one 
of  the  few  caricaturists  of  American  birth  in  those  days, 
could  hit  off  a  portrait  with  a  sure  touch.  Dalrymple 
never  did  better  work  than  under  the  guidance  of  Kep- 
pler,— "  he  is  a  born  caricaturist,"  said  the  latter  once  to 
me.  And  there  were  Ehrhardt,  a  pen-artist  of  precise 
finish,  and  Syd  B.  Griffin,  whose  humor  had  an  almost 
boyishly  rollicking,  irresponsible  air.  Charles  J.  Taylor 
was  essentially  an  illustrator,  good  in  his  satires  on  so- 


-TBAra    WHAT'S  THE  UATTBR." 
Co»  T»ui>.  "As  lone  u  I  cmm  lU  Voiai,  abu  sn  fos  nui(  to  do  •bml  U?  ^jf> 

One  of  the  Anti-Tweed  Cartoons  in 

"Harper's  Weekly,"  by 

Thomas  Nast 


C'..iirti-vv  (.1  "ruck" 


Cartoon,  "Puck,"  April  28,  1886,  by 
Joseph  Keppler 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  275 

ciety  life  in  its  female  aspect;  he  illustrated  Philip  G. 
Welch's  "  Tailor-made  girl "  dialogues,  "  In  the  Four 
Hundred  and  out,"  and  various  works  by  H.  C.  Bunner 
and  others.  In  recent  years  this  journal  has  enlisted  also 
the  services  of  Joseph  Keppler  the  younger,  L.  M. 
Glackens,  Carl  Hassmann,  Albert  Levering,  Arthur 
Young  (illustrator  of  "Hell  up  to  Date,"  and  whose 
cartoons  evidence  serious  convictions  on  social  condi- 
tions), Gordon  H.  Grant,  Will  Crawford,  Frank  Nan- 
kivell,  representing  as  many  different  styles  and  almost  as 
many  specialties. 

During  the  early  years  of  "  Puck,"  when  Keppler  not 
only  dominated  the  art  department  but  did  nearly  all  of 
the  work,  there  was  a  noticeably  foreign  tone  in  his  car- 
toons, a  spirit,  with  a  somewhat  Gallic  freedom  of  expres- 
sion, born  of  his  Viennese  origin.  The  somewhat  auda- 
cious conception,  Forbidding  the  Banns,  is  not  very  likely 
to  be  echoed  to-day.  In  that  picture,  Garfield  (in  female 
garb)  is  about  to  be  wedded  to  Uncle  Sam,  the  officiating 
clergyman  having  a  ballot-box  for  a  head,  and  Schurz  and 
Reid  standing  by  as  bridesmaids;  W.  H.  Barnum,  bearing 
a  baby  labeled  "  Credit  Mobilier,"  rushes  in,  vigorously 
protesting  against  the  continuation  of  the  ceremony. 
"  But  it  was  such  a  little  one  "  is  the  coy  remark  of  the 
blushing  bride.  "  A  Selection  of  Cartoons  from  Puck 
by  Joseph  Keppler;  with  text  and  introduction  by  H.  C. 
Bunner"  (1893),  issued  in  a  limited  edition,  gives  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  the  range  of  Keppler's  talent.  But  the 
best  review  of  his  activity  will  be  found  in  a  bound  set  of 
the  journal  which  he  founded  and  made  into  a  power. 


276  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Keppler  developed  a  partiality  for  large  compositions 
with  many  figures;  he  was  a  sort  of  Makart  in  comic  art. 
His  son,  who  has  taken  his  place  on  "  Puck,"  while  not 
entirely  possessing  the  father's  easy  swing  of  flowing  line, 
has  a  remarkable  faculty  of  scoring  telling  hits  with  a 
minimum  of  figures.  One  could  not  better  tell  the  story 
of  the  presidential  campaign  of  1908  than  he  did  with 
three  figures,  Roosevelt  as  John  Alden  and  the  Repub- 
lican Party  as  Priscilla,  Taft  as  Standish  hovering  in  the 
rear.  The  mature  coyness  of  the  maid,  the  smile  of  self- 
satisfaction  on  the  face  of  the  vicarious  suitor,  are  un- 
mistakable. The  title  is,  of  course:  Why  don't  you 
speak  for  yourself?  Keppler  never  allows  side  issues 
or  details  to  becloud  the  main  idea  in  his  cartoons;  it  is 
this  singleness  of  purpose  which  makes  them  so  em- 
phatically effective. 

In  1887  "  Judge  "  was  founded,  to  counteract  the  Dem- 
ocratic influence  of  "  Puck,"  I  fancy.  It  received  its  first 
impulse  toward  more  important  rank  through  the  advent 
of  Wales  from  "  Puck,"  that  artist  being  followed  sub- 
sequently by  Gillam  and  Zimmerman,  which  latter  artist 
here  developed  to  the  full  his  predilection  for  exaggera- 
tion. Grant  E.  Hamilton  grew  into  a  manner  of  note- 
worthy ease  and  freshness,  shown  also  in  pen-drawings 
of  easy-flowing  stroke  done  for  the  "  New  York  Her- 
ald." Frank  Beard,  J.  H.  Smith  (cowboy  scenes),  F. 
Victor  Gillam  (who,  until  the  death  of  his  brother,  on 
whose  style  his  own  was  modeled,  used  the  signature  F. 
Victor)^  Penrhyn  Stanlaws  (i.e.,  P.  S.  Adamson),  Flohri, 
James  Montgomery  Flagg  are  among  the  other  artists 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  ^77 

whose  work  appeared  in  this  weekly.  "  Puck  and  Judge," 
say  A.  B.  Maurice  and  F.  T.  Cooper,  in  their  volume  on 
nineteenth  century  caricature,  "  led  to  a  distinct  advance 
in  political  caricature  in  this  country." 

The  third  in  the  trio  of  comic  weeklies,  with  the  usual 
three  cartoons  in  colors,  which  succeeded  in  maintaining 
a  foothold  for  a  number  of  years,  was  the  "  Wasp,"  of 
San  Francisco,  which  subsequently  became  a  general  illus- 
trated weekly.  There  were  other  attempts  to  establish 
similar  publications,  but  they  usually  did  not  hold  out 
long  beyond  the  political  campaign  which  called  them 
into  being.  The  Garfield-Hancock  struggle  of  1880 
evolved  "  Chic,"  with  chief  cartoonist  in  the  person  of 
C.  Kendrick,  better  known  as  an  illustrator  of  juveniles 
with  colored  pictures.  Four  years  later  "  Judge's  "  efforts 
in  behalf  of  Blaine  were  seconded  by  "  Jingo,"  which 
died  the  usual  early  death.  During  that  campaign  of 
1884  the  strongest  forces  in  caricature  were  arrayed  on 
the  other  side.  "  Puck  "  offered  a  remarkable  instance 
of  sustained  effort  in  its  series  of  "  plumed  knight "  and 
"  tattooed  man  "  conceits,  mainly  by  Keppler  and  Gillam. 
The  "  tattooed "  idea  had  appeared  once  before  in 
"  Puck,"  in  an  early  issue  of  the  German  edition  (1876), 
in  which  Columbia  appears  anything  but  a  "  gem,"  her 
body  covered  with  the  record  of  all  sorts  of  rings  and 
frauds  and  political  misdeeds.  And  now  the  idea,  utilized 
in  a  political  dime  museum  drawn  by  Gillam,  in  which 
Blaine  appeared  among  the  "  freaks  "  as  a  tattooed  man, 
was  exploited  with  an  ingeniously  varied  insistence  that 
was  terrible  in  its  effectiveness.     Some  of  the  cartoons 


278  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

were  on  a  particularly  high  plane ;  so  Gillam's  Phryne  be- 
fore the  Chicago  Tribunal  (Phryne  being  the  tattooed 
man  unveiled  by  Whitelaw  Reid),  a  distinct  appeal  to  the 
well  educated.  The  attacks  on  Cleveland  were  equally 
bitter,  and  in  the  two  succeeding  campaigns  his  figure, 
in  grossly  caricatured  obesity,  was  incessantly  held  up  to 
ridicule.  Free-trade  friendliness  to  England,  a  nineteen 
collar  and  a  number  six  hat,  hypocrisy  and  self-love  were 
some  of  the  sins  with  which  he  was  charged.  The  last- 
named  attribute  formed  the  theme  of  a  drawing  by  Gillam 
in  which  Cleveland's  figure,  inclined  in  a  bow,  forms  the 
contours  of  the  United  States  on  the  map. 

In  succeeding  campaigns,  Bryan  came  in  for  his  share 
of  attacks.  Among  the  many  cartoons  directed  against 
him  there  was  one,  unusually  free  in  conception,  by  Ham- 
ilton, representing  him  as  the  "  Angel  of  Darkness  " 
showing  the  American  voter  possibilities  of  power  and 
wealth,  as  seen  from  a  high  mountain.  The  Temptation 
is  its  obvious  title. 

Shortly  before  the  Spanish  war,  a  cartoon  by  Victor 
Gillam,  in  which  a  diminutive  Spaniard,  looking  into  the 
mouth  of  an  enormous  American  cannon,  is  admonished 
by  Uncle  Sam :  Be  careful,  it's  loaded,  explained  the  state 
of  affairs  with  expressive  simplicity.  The  Spanish  cari- 
catures issued  during  the  war,  usually  variations  on  the 
theme  of  the  "  American  hog,"  may  seem  to  us  stupid 
enough,  but  in  such  a  production  as  Hamilton's  The 
Spanish  Brute  adds  Mutilation  to  Murder  there  is  an 
appeal  to  national  prejudice  which  is  not  pleasant  to  look 
upon.    Even  this  war  is  already  to  an  extent  ancient  his- 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  279 

tory,  which  may  be  objectively  studied,  In  Its  caricature 
aspect,  In  the  volume  "Cartoons  of  the  War  of  1898 
with  Spain,  from  leading  foreign  and  American  papers  " 

(1899). 

While  "  Puck  "  and  "  Judge  "  were  cartooning  their 
way  through  the  devious  paths  of  politics,  in  the  color-full 
blaze  of  chromo-llthography,  there  was  established  in 
1883  a  weekly  devoted  more  particularly  to  social  cari- 
cature, and  going  back  to  black  and  white,  although  a 
more  rapid  process  was  used,  of  course.  Instead  of  wood- 
engraving.  That  was  "  Life."  It  Is  an  interesting  group 
of  artists  who  have  at  one  time  or  another  been  in  the 
service  of  this  lively  publication.  Some  of  them  were 
well  characterized  by  John  Ames  Mitchell,  editor  of 
the  journal,  in  his  article  on  "  Contemporary  American 
caricature"  in  "  Scrlbner's  "  for  December,  1889.  He 
speaks  there  of  the  "  intellectual  quality  "  of  the  delight- 
ful and  droll  conceits  of  F.  G.  Attwood  (of  whose  draw- 
ings the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  held  an  exhibition 
in  1901),  of  C.  D.  Gibson's  "ability  to  draw  a  lady," 
a  not  too  common  faculty,  of  the  "  lively  fancy,  keen 
wit "  of  Oliver  Herford.  Further  variations  of  outlook 
on  the  humorous  side  of  our  fellow-man  were  offered  In 
the  earlier  volumes  of  "  Life  "  by  W.  A.  Rogers,  W.  H. 
Hyde,  Albert  Sterner,  S.  W.  Van  Schaick,  C.  Gray 
Parker,  Palmer  Cox,  C.  Kendrick,  H.  W.  McVIckar  (il- 
lustrator of  "Daisy  Miller"),  Alfred  Glllam,  E.  W. 
Kemble  ("Thompson  Street  Poker  Club"  and  other 
phases  of  "  Blackvllle  "  life,  presented  with  much  under- 
standing of  negro  character,  unexaggerated),  and  John 


28o  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Ames  Mitchell  ("The  Summer  School  of  Philosophy 
at  Mt.  Desert,"  1881,  and  "The  Romance  of  the 
Moon,"  1886).  More  recently  there  have  been  con- 
nected with  it  the  painstaking  and  thoughtful  Charles 
Broughton;  T.  S.  Sullivant;  Otho  Cushing  ("The  Ted- 
dyssey,"  1907),  who  outlines  commanding  and  divinely 
proportioned  Junos,  Venuses,  Apollos,  Jupiters  and  Di- 
anas, both  in  their  classic  garb  and  in  modern  dress; 
James  Montgomery  Flagg,  whose  humor  has  a  broad 
and  spontaneous  fling;  and  W.  H.  Walker,  effective  in 
the  field  of  political  satire. 

Chip,  as  F.  P.  W.  Bellew,  son  of  Frank  Henry  Temple 
Bellew,  signed  himself,  furnished  many  of  his  amusing 
little  pictures  to  "  Life  "  (a  number  of  them  were  repub- 
lished in  a  volume  of  "Chip's  Dogs,"  1895),  and 
Mitchell  paid  pribute  to  his  "  limitless  invention."  Ideas 
are  very  necessary  to  the  caricaturist.  The  elder  Bellew, 
who  in  1866  issued  a  book  on  the  "Art  of  Amusing," 
had  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  them,  which  never  appeared 
to  run  short  throughout  his  long  career.  His  son  was 
indeed  a  "  chip  of  the  old  block  "  in  that  respect.  F.  M. 
Howarth  was  likewise  well  provided  with  this  inventive- 
ness, which  he  exploited  in  series  of  pictures,  with  large- 
headed,  stare-eyed  figures,  which  enjoyed  quite  a  vogue 
at  one  time.  In  Bisbee  and  the  bright  and  prolific  James 
S.  Goodwin  (died  1890)  this  faculty  mainly  served  as 
a  basis  for  drawings  by  others,  their  own  artistic  talent 
being  a  negligible  asset.  "  Idea  mongers  "  some  one  has 
called  these  useful  members  of  the  craft. 

"  Puck,"  "  Judge  "  and  "  Life  "  are  in  the  field  to-day. 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  281 

but  the  curious  digger  after  facts  may  find  yet  more 
tombstones  to  note  in  the  cemetery  of  comic  journalism's 
blasted  hopes.  "  Sam,  the  Scaramouch  "  was  begun  in 
Cincinnati  in  1885  ;  "  The  Verdict  "  issued  three  volumes 
in  1 898-1900; — but  it  would  be  an  idle  task  to  continue 
the  list  here. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  power  of  the  cartoon 
has  been  invoked  even  by  religious  journalism  in  the  case 
of  the  "War  Cry,"  and  by  the  "  Ram's  Horn"  (Chi- 
cago) in  its  war  on  drink.  The  artist  for  the  latter  pub- 
lication was  Frank  Beard,  who  came  prominently  before 
the  public  in  his  "  Chalk  Talks,"  and  who  wrote  of  the 
"  Art  of  Caricature  "  in  the  "  Chautauquan  "  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1887. 

Caricature  of  the  past  has  its  function  also  in  preserv- 
ing records  of  manners  and  customs,  a  fact  considered 
in  some  detail  in  the  present  writer's  articles  on  "  Social 
History  of  the  United  States  in  Caricature  "  ("  Critic," 
1905).  Figures  that  have  disappeared  from  our  streets, 
— the  old  apple  woman,  the  mutton-pie  man, — vagaries  of 
fashion  that  had  their  little  day,  habits,  such  as  whittling, 
that  have  lost  their  quality  as  national  characteristics, 
these  and  other  things  were  so  much  a  matter  of  course 
in  their  day  that  the  ordinary  pictorial  press  did  not 
note  them,  but  the  eye  and  pencil  of  the  comic  artist  held 
them  incidentally  to  illustrate  the  point  of  some  joke, 
or  directly  ridiculed  them.  Much  of  our  social  caricature, 
for  a  long  while,  was  taken  up  with  the  doings  of  the 
more  or  less  "  upper  ten."  Not  a  little  of  the  resultant 
work  no   doubt   deserved   the   late   Alfred   Trumble's 


282  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

stricture  that  it  consisted  of  "  pretty  drawings  that  mean 
nothing  to  fit  text  that  means  less." 

But  some  of  our  best  "  comic  artists  "  have  given  us 
mainly  views  of  a  life  of  simpler  manners,  homespun  vir- 
tues and  plain  clothes. 

Frost's  healthy  and  delightful  humor,  first  shown  in 
a  tendency  to  grotesquery  (as  in  "  Stuff  and  Nonsense  ") , 
has  become  mellowed  with  years  into  an  appreciative  con- 
templation of  the  amiable  weaknesses  of  his  fellow-man. 
His  later  drawings  of  our  rural  compatriots  and  of  our 
sporting  brethren  are  friendly  presentations  of  human 
traits  at  which  we  smile  while  sympathizing  with  them. 
One  of  his  colleagues  has  well  said  that  "  one  of  the 
greatest  charms  of  Mr.  Frost's  work  is  the  enjoyment 
the  artist  evidently  takes  in  it  himself." 

E.  W.  Kemble  has  cartooned  for  Leslie's  and 
Harper's  weeklies,  but  has  always  been  best  known 
as  a  delineator  of  negro  life,  a  faculty  which  he  em- 
ployed also  in  the  illustration  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 
W.  L.  Sheppard,  illustrator  of  John  Esten  Cooke  and 
W.  D.  Howells,  also  furnished  many  humorous  draw- 
ings of  the  black  man,  done  with  a  sympathetic  truthful- 
ness to  nature  born  perhaps  of  the  artist's  Southern 
origin.  In  that  field  he  was  emulated  for  a  while  by 
Peter  Newell,  who  has  since  become  well  known  through 
his  "  Topsys  and  Turveys,"  1893,  "  The  hole  Book  "  and 
similar  grotesque  conceptions,  and  by  his  illustrated 
quatrains  of  the  "  wild  flower  "  type,  all  done  with  a 
quaintness  of  drawing  and  humor  peculiarly  his  own.  To 
those  who  drew  the  negro  without  recourse  to  caricature 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  283 

must  be  added  also  an  earlier  artist,  Sol  Eytinge,  who 
gave  us  many  kindly  and  genial  pictures  of  the  black  man 
in  his  happy  moods.  Thomas  Worth,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  the  gaudily  colored  Currier  &  Ives  lithographs  which 
not  so  long  ago  confronted  one  in  many  shop  windows, 
chronicled  the  doings  of  "  Blackville  "  in  a  revelry  of 
distorted  racial  characteristics.  He  was  identified  for  a 
while  with  "  Texas  Siftings  "  and  furnished  illustrations 
for  the  writings  of  "  Bricktop."  To  those  who  remem- 
ber these  illustrations  or  the  earlier  ones  for  Orpheus  C. 
Kerr's  "Smoked  Glass"  (1868)  or  R.  B.  Roosevelt's 
"  Five  Acres  too  much  "  it  may  come  as  a  surprise  to 
learn  that  he  furnished  designs  also  for  the  "  Old  Curi- 
osity Shop  "  (1872)  1 

Michael  Angelo  Woolf,  originally  a  wood-engraver, 
never  caricatured,  but  sketched  what  Leech  called  the 
"  Children  of  the  Mobility,"  ragged  youngsters  from  the 
slums  and  the  squatters'  shanties  of  New  York  (once  a 
picturesque  subject  for  caricaturists),  sometimes  in  par- 
ody of  adult  life,  and  not  infrequently  in  pathetic  appeals 
on  behalf  of  the  poor  and  unfortunate.  A  number  of 
his  drawings  were  collected  as  "  Sketches  of  lowly  Life  in 
a  great  City  "  (1899).  His  "  How  it  happened,"  shown 
at  the  National  Academy  in  1884,  indicated  an  ambition 
to  shine  as  a  painter,  and  was  accepted  by  the  public  as 
a  remarkable  bit  of  characterization  of  tenement  house 
life. 

The  many  names  mentioned  show  that  not  a  few  of 
our  illustrators  were  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  comic 
art  early  in  their  career;  Abbey,  Reinhart,  Church,  Frost 


284  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

may  be  cited  as  conspicuous  examples.  So,  too,  some 
turned  to  it  after  they  had  become  known  as  illustrators : 
Bush,  Rogers.  The  last  two,  identified  with  newspaper 
work,  bring  us  to  an  interesting  phase  of  the  subject. 

In  our  day  the  cartoon  has  become  a  prominent  feature 
of  the  daily  press,  which  has  enlisted  the  services  of 
some  very  clever  artists.  The  thing  began,  in  fact,  very 
soon  after  Gribayedoff  did  his  series  of  humorous  por- 
traits in  the  "World"  (New  York),  in  1884.  From 
that  time  on,  the  "  World  "  had  among  its  cartoonists 
Walter  H.  McDougall  (who  also  wrote  and  illustrated 
"  The  Hidden  City  "  and  "  McD.'s  unauthorized  history 
of  Chris.  Columbus"),  D.  McCarthy,  Charles  G.  Bush 
and  his  successor  Charles  R.  Macauley;  the  New  York 
"  Herald  "  Grant  Hamilton,  Charles  G.  Bush,  Ch.  Nelan 
("  Cartoons  of  our  War  with  Spain,"  1898),  and  W. 
A.  Rogers  ("Hits  at  Politics,"  1899);  the  "Evening 
Telegram"  (New  York)  C.  de  Grimm  during  1884-87 
(he  was  von  Grimm  before  he  left  Austria  for  France) 
and  Charles  G.  Bush;  the  New  York  "Recorder" 
Thomas  Nast;  the  New  York  "  Press  "  Leon  Barritt. 

Bush,  well  characterized  by  J.  A.  Mitchell  as  "  a  man 
of  positive  convictions,"  for  some  years  held  a  peculiar 
position  as  the  dean  of  American  cartoonists.  His  work 
had  what  the  Germans  call  "  moral  seriousness,"  bore 
the  stamp  of  sincere  purpose,  of  a  consistently  high  tone. 
These  qualities,  and  the  personality  behind  them,  were 
appreciatively  emphasized  in  "World's  Work,"  1901, 
and  by  S.  H.  Horgan  in  "  Inland  Printer,"  October, 
1907. 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  285 

Homer  C.  Davenport  cartooned  for  the  New  York 
"Journal"  and  "Evening  Mail";  he  originated  the 
Mark  Hanna  $-mark  suit  of  clothes  and  the  giant  figure 
of  the  trusts.  Frederick  Burr  Opper  has  drawn  for  the 
"New  York  Journal"  the  "Willie  and  his  Papa" 
(1891),  "Alphabet  of  Joyous  Trusts"  (1902)  and 
"John,  Jonathan  and  Mr.  Opper"  (1903)  series.  Op- 
per's  newspaper  work  is  quite  different  from  that  of  his 
earlier  days,  the  days  of  "  Puck's  Opper  Book  "  ( 1888) . 
In  a  review  of  "  This  funny  World  as  Puck  sees  it " 
(1890)  the  present  writer  said:  "Mr.  Opper's  humor 
draws  its  happiest  inspiration  from  the  life  of  the  middle 
and  laboring  classes,  and  in  his  sphere  he  is  quite  inimita- 
ble. As  a  rule,  the  element  of  caricature  enters  into  his 
drawings  with  just  enough  force  to  accentuate  the  point 
of  the  joke  he  is  illustrating."  To-day  the  idea  is  appar- 
ently everything  to  him;  drawing  is  subordinated  into 
an  almost  elementary  simplicity. 

Henry  Mayer  is  with  the  "  New  York  Times,"  and 
Boardman  Robinson  with  the  "  New  York  Tribune." 
Of  the  last-named,  the  "  New  York  Evening  Post  "  said 
(Dec.  30,  1911)  :  "  in  draughtsman's  tact  and  in  power 
of  summary  characterization  he  should  find  a  place 
among  those  who  have  achieved  most  honor  in  this 
work."  Rollin  Kirby's  work  in  the  "  New  York  Even- 
ing Mail  "  has  some  similarity  to  the  vigorous  style  of 
Robinson. 

In  fact,  the  last  three  men  named  execute  their  draw- 
ings with  an  artistic  feeling  which  is  rather  rare  among 
newspaper  cartoonists,  many  of  whom  work  in  a  manner 


286  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

that  is  somewhat  elementary,  in  some  cases  almost  child- 
ishly so.  Homespun  humor  and  simple  literalness  in 
execution  are  typical  of  a  class  of  this  newspaper 
work. 

The  list  is  quite  long  of  those  who  have  commented 
on  public  affairs  with  drollery,  with  humor,  even  with 
wit,  but  less  often  with  satire.  On  the  whole,  the  good- 
humored,  a  bit  clownish  spirit  predominates;  the  "sly 
dig  "  is  administered,  rather  than  the  sting  of  the  lash. 
John  T.  McCutcheon  of  the  "  Chicago  Tribune  "  depicts 
"  the  sunny  side,"  as  some  one  has  put  it.  The  progressive 
expression  on  his  head  of  C.  W.  Fairbanks  in  the  series 
"  Problems  of  the  Vice-Presidency  "  is  an  amusing  ex- 
ample of  his  humor  which  has  a  flavor  both  spontaneous 
and  native.  Various  manners  and  methods  may  be  found 
in  the  work  of  Charles  L.  Bartholomew  ("Bart")  of 
the  "  Minneapolis  Journal  " ;  John  DeMar,  "  Philadel- 
phia Record " ;  J.  H.  Donahey,  "  Cleveland  Plain 
Dealer  ";  Fred  Morgan,  "  Philadelphia  Inquirer  ";  Rob- 
ert Carter  and  T.  S.  Sullivant,  in  "  New  York  Ameri- 
can"; Fred  Richardson,  "Chicago  Daily  News";  Clif- 
ford K.  Berryman,  "  Washington  Star,"  and  William  H. 
Walker,  "  New  York  Evening  Post." 

One  result  of  this  wide  activity  is  the  very  frequent 
delineation  of  certain  individuals,  so  that  it  becomes  pos- 
sible to  gather  such  an  overflowing  collection  of  material 
as  we  find  it  in  Albert  Shaw's  "  Cartoon  History  of 
Roosevelt's  Career  "  (1910). 

"  The  American  cartoon,  despite  the  undeniable 
amount  of  trash  which  its  name  has  covered,  is  one  of 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  287 

the  most  interesting  manifestations  of  our  art.  There 
is  less  self-consciousness  about  it  than  many  other  outlets 
for  artistic  energy  to-day  can  show.  It  has  less  pose, 
a  characteristic  honesty  that  is  above  question.  It  finds 
itself  in  that  situation  in  which,  perhaps,  the  best  art  of 
all  fruitful  periods  is  found,  since  It  is  art  in  service  to 
an  actual  daily  need  of  utterance  and  expression."  So 
said  a  writer  in  the  "  New  York  Evening  Post "  of  De- 
cember 30,  191 1.  There  is  much  truth  in  this,  if  we 
remember  that  it  was  written  in  the  face  of  the  work 
of  half  a  dozen  artists  selected  for  exhibition  at  the  City 
Club,  New  York. 

"  The  modern  cartoon  is  essentially  journalistic,"  to 
quote  Maurice  and  Cooper  again,  "  both  in  spirit  and 
execution."  It  is  bound  to  be  so,  from  the  conditions  of 
production;  to  think  out  and  execute  a  cartoon  a  day  is 
an  undertaking  that  calls  for  quick  work.  Quiizk  pro- 
duction is  the  rule;  as  Bartholomew  once  said  to  a  writer 
for  "The  World  To-day"  (February,  1904),  "The 
American  cartoonist  must  anticipate  the  news."  The 
widespread  use  of  caricature  by  papers,  in  which  the  daily 
artistic  comments  on  passing  events  are  each  in  turn 
crowded  out  by  the  following  one,  must  of  necessity 
weaken  its  corrective  force.  It  is  only  the  work  of  a 
few  that  stands  out,  or  the  occasional  "  hit  " ;  or  the  per- 
sistent insistence  of  a  series  of  consecutive  poundings  on 
the  same  issue,  as  during  a  political  campaign.  There  is, 
too,  the  danger  referred  to  by  the  late  C.  G.  Bush,  in 
the  words:  *'  In  my  opinion,  the  objectionable  features  of 
some  cartoons  published  to-day  are  largely  due  to  the 


288  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

attempt  to  make  the  cartoonist  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands 
of  the  editor  or  the  proprietor  of  the  paper." 

A  number  of  newspaper  cartoons  were  reproduced  by 
"Cartoons"  while  it  lasted  (1900);  the  same  journal 
published  also  portraits  and  biographical  sketches  of  C. 
K.  Berryman,  C.  R.  Macauley,  Maurice  Ketten,  John 
De  Mar,  and  F.  Fox  of  the  "  Louisville  Times."  The 
"  American  Monthly  Review  of  Reviews  "  and  other 
publications  have  also  at  various  times  republished  car- 
toons on  questions  of  general  interest,  thus  affording  op- 
portunity for  comparative  study  of  opinions  and  of  the 
art  through  which  they  were  expressed. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  domain  of  political  caricature 
that  the  daily  paper  has  entered.  It  has  come  to  cater 
extensively  to  humanity's  willingness  to  laugh.  Small 
doses  of  illustrated  humor  in  daily  issues,  and  more 
voluminous  provision  in  special  "  comic "  sections  of 
those  masses  of  printed  sheets  which  overpower  us  on 
Sundays,  offer  a  sort  of  continuous  comic  performance, 
where  we  formerly  had  it  concentrated  in  an  exclusively 
comic  paper  once  a  week.  We  are  indeed  carrying  out 
Hudson's  idea,  cited  before,  that  "  no  one  can  wait  a 
week  for  a  laugh;  it  must  come  in  daily  with  our  coffee," 
and  we  get  it  with  our  evening  tea  as  well. 

There  has  been,  and  is,  much  simple,  clean,  healthy 
humor,  though  not  of  a  particularly  high  type,  in  these 
*'  comics."  But  in  this  field  of  non-political  caricature  the 
influence  of  the  daily  paper  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  invariably  good.  There  is  much  childishness  in 
conception  and  execution,  and,  what  is  worse,  bad  taste. 


THE  COMIC  PAPER  289 

The  eternal  ebullition  of  the  all-dominating  "  kid,"  to 
the  discomfiture  of  its  elders,  is  not  exactly  a  pleasing 
subject  for  the  gaudy  "  Supplement "  for  which  our  chil- 
dren can  hardly  wait  on  Sunday. 

Wallace  Irwin,  in  the  "  New  York  Times "  of  Oct. 
22,  191 1,  characterized  the  colored  comic  supplements 
as  "  decidedly  cockney,  both  in  origin  and  method,"  and 
continued;  "They  are  merely  an  American  version  of 
'  Alley  Sloper's  Half  Holiday,'  showing  the  same  tend- 
ency to  make  Peck's  Bad  Boy  the  hero,  to  celebrate  the 
dill  pickle  as  the  classic  model  of  wit,  to  weave  the  pun- 
draped  Daffydil,  and  to  indicate  Comedy  as  a  gentleman 
with  green  whiskers  lying  prone  at  the  foot  of  a  stairway 
with  a  galaxy  of  stars  swimming  round  his  fractured 
skull."  It  is  no  spirit  of  preciosity,  of  ultra-refinement, 
that  prompts  this  attitude,  but  the  exercise  of  ordinary 
good  taste.  Public  taste  has  become  somewhat  vitiated 
by  long  continuance  of  "  evil  associations."  The  antics 
of  the  "  slap-stick  "  element  in  comic  art  have  dulled  our 
powers  of  resistance  and  we  look,  at  the  very  least,  in- 
dulgently on  the  most  vulgar  vaudeville  contortions  in 
our  daily  and  weekly  charges  of  pictorial  humor.  The 
*'  good  "  work  is  even  spreading  to  other  lands  in  which 
our  efforts  are  emulated  in  dull  imitation  of  our  most 
freakish  efforts.  Even  Japan,  land  of  the  chrysanthe- 
mum and  the  color-print,  synonym  for  sensitive  exem- 
plification of  art  principles,  is  being  hooliganized  in  its 
comic  press.  The  news  of  the  voluntary  abandonment 
of  the  comic  supplement  by  a  Boston  paper,  some  years 
ago,  came  like  a  ray  of  hope.     And  all  of  this  may  be 


290  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

said  without  reference  to  any  ethical  viewpoint,  in  strict 
adherence  to  the  domain  of  art,  with  which  the  present 
book  is  concerned. 

There  has  been  an  enormous  increase  in  comic  artists. 
Schools,  even  correspondence  schools,  for  the  art  exist, 
and  the  demand,  on  the  part  of  young  men,  for  books 
in  our  public  libraries  on  the  art  of  cartooning,  is  suf- 
ficiently large.  As  if  the  true  inwardness  of  pictorial 
satire  could  be  taught  by  rote!  But  perhaps  the  kind 
which  evidently  pays  so  well  as  to  have  attracted  special 
attention,  can  be? 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  BOOK-PLATE 

While  the  activity  of  a  nation  in  the  making  did  not 
in  colonial  days  leave  time  for  a  full  development  of 
taste  for  art,  yet  the  spread  of  culture  and  the  formation 
of  collections  of  books  brought  about  the  use  of  the 
book-plate  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  In  fact, 
Charles  Dexter  Allen,  in  his  "  American  Book-Plates  " 
(New  York,  1894;  reprinted  1905),  lists  the  book-plate 
of  Johannes  Williams,  1679.  ^"^  this  was  merely  a 
printed  label,  the  simplest  indication  of  ownership  apart 
from  the  name  written  by  hand.  The  addition  of  an 
ornamental  border,  or  an  apt  quotation  was  quite  nat- 
ural, and  thence  grew  decorative  or  pictorial  embellish- 
ment. And  so,  then,  our  early  engravers  on  silver  and 
other  metals,  entering  the  field  of  line-engraving  on 
copper,  were  called  upon  to  produce  ex-libris.  Through 
the  eighteenth  century  the  following  were  more  or  less 
so  employed:  F.  Dewing,  M.  J.  Bruls,  Henry  Dawkins, 
Nathaniel  Hurd,  Thomas  Johnston,  James  Turner, 
Amos  Doolittle,  J.  M.  Furnass,  E.  Ruggles,  Jr.,  Spar- 
row, Paul  Revere,  Elisha  Gallaudet,  Joseph  Callender, 
Richard  Brunton  ("An  early  Connecticut  Engraver  and 
his  Work,"  by  Albert  C.  Bates,  Hartford,  1906),  Abra- 
ham Godwin,  A.  Billings  (an  "  elaborately  designed  but 

poorly  engraved  "  book-plate  of  Richard  Varick,  1801), 

291 


292  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Abernethie  (Charleston,  1785),  Bull,  James  Smither, 
J.  H.  Seymour,  Francis  Shallus,  James  Akin,  Nathaniel 
Dearborn,  William  Hamlin,  James  Trenchard,  S.  Harris, 
S.  Hill,  P.  and  P.  R.  Maverick  (the  latter  "  a  most  pro- 
lific worker  in  the  '  Ribbon  and  Wreath,'  "  writes  C.  D. 
Allen),  Anderson,  James  Akin,  RoUinson,  Vallance,  Al- 
lardice,  Thackara,  Kearny  and  not  a  few  others.  Some 
of  these  lived  well  into  the  next  century,  in  the  first  half 
of  which  Annin  &  Smith  and  C.  G.  Childs  also  executed 
such  signs  of  bibliothecal  proprietorship,  as  did  Dr.  John 
Syng  Dorsey. 

There  was  generally  no  particular  originality  in  this 
work.  Not  only  were  English  models  followed,  but 
some  of  the  engravers  were  content  to  use  the  same 
design,  with  slight  variation,  for  a  number  of  plates. 
Hurd,  for  example,  based  the  E.  A.  Holyoke,  Thos. 
Dering  (1749:  the  first  plate  by  an  American  engraver 
that  is  both  signed  and  dated),  Theodore  Atkinson, 
Wentworth,  Robert  Hale  and  other  plates  on  the  same 
design,  in  which  figured,  at  the  base  of  the  escutcheon, 
a  shell  from  which  flowed  water.  Callender  also  re- 
peated himself,  and  P.  R.  Maverick.  So  these  early  men 
gave  Chippendale,  Jacobean  and  Ribbon  and  Wreath 
plates,  in  the  approved  manner,  according  to  their  lights, 
and  with  a  certain  simple  dignity  despite  their  limita- 
tions of  craftsmanship. 

Of  these  early  armorial  plates,  George  Washington's 
is  naturally  of  paramount  interest.  It  was  printed  from 
after  the  Civil  War,  and  has  been  counterfeited,  the 
spurious  copy  being  utili;^e4  at  a  sale  in  Washington  in 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  293 

the  sixties  to  give  a  fictitious  value  to  the  books  to  be 
auctioned  off.  Like  William  Penn's,  it  was  presumably 
engraved  in  England.  Allen,  indeed,  notes  that  in  the 
Southern  colonies,  many  men  of  cultivated  tastes  and 
aristocratic  antecedents  had  their  plates  engraved  in 
England,  while  in  the  North  native  talent  was  generally 
engaged.  John  A.  Gade,  in  "  Book-plates — old  and 
new"  (New  York,  1898),  states  that  Thomas  Prince's 
(1704)  was  the  earliest  one  actually  executed  in 
America. 

These  early  book-plates  were  mainly  armorial,  and 
usually  engraved  in  line  on  copper,  although  occasionally 
a  woodcut  was  used.  But  the  pictorial  element  also 
began  to  appear,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  rows  or  piles 
of  books,  and  the  allegorical  as  well.  Patriotism  found 
vent  in  the  employment  of  the  American  flag  or  the  eagle, 
and  T.  C.  Sparrow,  in  each  of  his  few  ex-libris  engraved 
on  wood,  introduced  the  thirteen  stars  of  the  new  nation. 

When  our  eighteenth  century  engravers  broadened  out 
from  the  scrollwork  and  scallops  and  conventional  leaf 
designs  (for  which  their  practice  as  silversmiths  had 
given  them  a  certain  fluency),  the  result  is  not  always 
exactly  happy.  Note,  for  example,  the  shepherd,  shep- 
herdess and  lamb  in  Dawklns's  plate  for  Benjamin  Kis- 
sam,  all  three  of  a  like  woodenness.  But  it  is  difficult 
to  keep  purely  artistic  considerations  unmixed  with  feel- 
ings of  sympathy  for  the  efforts  of  these  early  designers 
or  of  interest  in  the  owners  of  the  plates  and  in  the  spirit 
of  time  and  place. 

Neither  the  pictorial  nor  the  allegorical  seem  to  have 


294  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

been  particularly  numerous,  and  they  were  apparently 
more  affected  by  associations  than  by  individuals.  One 
recalls  the  plate  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gos- 
pel in  Foreign  Parts  (1704),  representing  the  savage 
Americans  rushing  to  the  shore  to  meet  an  incoming  ship 
in  which  stands  a  missionary  holding  out  a  book.  Later 
came  the  plates  for  Harvard  College;  Linonlan  Library, 
Yale  College  (1804)  and  Mechanics'  Library,  New 
Haven  (two  funny  little  cupids  at  an  anvil,  with  the  motto 
"  improve  the  moment  "),  both  by  Doolittle;  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society  (^Esculapius  healing  a  wounded 
stag,  reproduced  by  Stauffer),  Hasty  Pudding  Library 
(showing  pot  of  pudding),  American  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  all  three  by  Callender;  Harvard  Porcellian 
Club  (with  a  porker  prominent)  ;  Monthly  Library  of 
Farmington,  1795  (a  crude  and  queer  affair,  M.  Bull's 
and  T.  Lee's  sculp.)  ;  New  York  Society  Library;  Co- 
lumbia College  Library,  Apprentices'  Library,  Typo- 
graphical Society  of  New  York,  all  three  by  Anderson; 
and  New  York  State  Agricultural  Society  (Ceres,  with  a 
sheaf  of  wheat) .  In  such  plates,  owls,  Minerva,  Diana, 
Clio,  lamps  of  knowledge,  age  guiding  youth  to  the  temple 
of  learning,  temples  of  honor,  and  similar  devices  add  the 
force  of  their  pictorial  lesson.  For  the  New  York  So- 
ciety Library  a  conception  representing  an  Indian  rever- 
ently receiving  a  volume  from  the  hands  of  Minerva, 
was  twice  engraved  by  P.  R.  Maverick,  another  design 
having  previously  been  cut  by  Elisha  Gallaudet.  Ann  P. 
Shallus's  Circulating  Library,  Philadelphia,  is  symbolized 
in  the  engraving  by  Francis  Shallus  in  the  form  of  a 


Book  Plate  of  George  Washington 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  295 

female  with  a  cornucopia.  And  for  an  orphan  asylum 
L.  Simond  designed,  and  Leney  engraved,  a  picture  of 
Christ  blessing  children. 

Among  the  private  individuals  who  used  similar  em- 
blematic ideas  in  their  book-plates  were  Bloomfield  Mc- 
Ilvaine  (J.  H.  Seymour,  engraver,  from  a  design  by  J.  J. 
Barralet)  ;  Williams  and  Samuel  Walker  (both  musical 
instruments)  and  Henry  Andrews  (Minerva  and  owl), 
the  first  and  last  by  S.  Harris;  Samuel  Parker  (Clio  hand- 
ing a  book  to  a  kneeling  youth)  ;  J.  B.  Swett  and  John 
Green,  Jr.  (both  reminiscent  of  the  dissecting  room)  ; 
McMurtrie  (book-pile  and  serpent  of  ^sculapius,  Fair- 
man  del.,  Kearny  sc.)  ;  and  James  Parker,  an  old  railway 
conductor,  who  launched  into  the  pictorial  with  an  elab- 
orate picture  of  the  first  railway  train.  P.  R.  Maverick 
depicted  a  young  man  reading.  In  his  plate  for  Jacob 
Brown;  a  young  woman  similarly  employed  figures  in 
that  of  the  Farmlngton  Village  Library.  Books,  Ink-pots 
and  quills  are  of  obvious  applicability.  The  pile  or  row 
of  books  was  occasionally  used,  by  Doollttle  and  James 
Akin  for  Instance;  the  library  Interior  served  for  Ben- 
jamin Ogle  Tayloe's  plate.  The  American  flag,  cannon 
balls,  an  anchor  and  a  ship  characterize  the  activities  of 
Lieut.  E.  Trenchard,  and  a  soaring  eagle  figures  In  the 
plates  of  Brigham  (engraved  by  writing-master  Gershom 
Cobb),  John  Preston  Mann,  Abraham  Bancker  (by 
Maverick)  and  others;  in  W.  L.  Stone's  (by  R.  Raw- 
don)  the  eagle  Is  struggling  with  a  serpent.  And  In 
Edward  Livingston's  ex-libris,  by  Maverick,  the  armorial 
design  Is  supplemented  by  a  dog  barking  at  a  squirrel. 


296  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

The  plates  of  these  early  days,  through  the  first  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  bring  before  us  a  long  list  of 
names  noted  in  various  walks  of  life.  Presidents,  patriots 
of  the  Revolution,  orators,  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  loyalists,  merchants,  preachers,  authors, 
lawyers,  physicians,  military  officers,  honorable  bearers 
of  honorable  old  family  names,  bound  together  in  this 
pictorial  representation  by  love  and  respect  for  books. 
It  is  a  wide  field  of  human  activity  that  rises  through 
memory  before  the  imagination  at  sight  of  such  a  collec- 
tion of  book-plates. 

In  earlier  days,  the  book-plate,  to  a  large  extent,  as  we 
have  seen,  reflected  the  importance  of  heraldry  in  all  the 
pomp  of  armorial  bearings,  and  was,  therefore,  an  em- 
blem of  family  dignity  rather  than  an  expression  of  per- 
sonal tastes.  To-day  the  pictorial  plate  predominates, 
directly  or  symbolically  illustrating  a  particular  individ- 
uality. That,  of  course,  does  not  exclude  the  oppor- 
tunity for  an  unobtrusive  introduction  of  heraldic  devices. 
But  possibilities  for  a  less  hampered  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  artist  are  immeasurably  increased.  The  ex-libris 
in  Its  modern  manifestations  is  based  particularly  and 
primarily  on  the  individuality  of  the  person  for  whom 
It  was  made.  It  Is  the  result  of  a  natural  impulse  to 
indicate  ownership  in  a  book  by  more  than  a  simple  sig- 
nature or  a  printed  or  typewritten  label,  by  some  device 
that  shall  be  distinctive,  that  shall  give  some  indication 
of  the  owner's  character  and  tastes.  In  fact,  this  im- 
pulse, and  the  pleasure  in  Its  artistic  expression,  have  led 
some  people  to  have  more  than  one  book-plate, — Henry 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  297 

Blackwell,  for  instance,  C.  H.  Hart,  Walter  Conway 
Prescott,  T.  Henry  Foster,  W.  G.  Bowdoin,  Dorothy 
Furman,  E.  P.  B.  Phillips,  Frank  R.  Fraprie  and  George 
L.  Parmele. 

In  these  little  art  products,  then,  not  only  the  skill  and 
individual  attitude  of  the  artist  are  expressed;  the  per- 
sonality and  ideas  of  the  one  who  orders  the  plate  have 
a  paramount  influence  on  the  result,  and  are,  in  fact,  as 
one  book-plate  designer  has  well  said,  the  keynote  of  the 
design.  That  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  ultimately  the 
artist's  personality  may  be  the  dominating  one,  and  form 
the  main  reason  why  particular  plates  are  sought  after  by 
the  collector.  The  factors  in  the  composition  of  the 
book-plate  are,  obviously,  the  relative  mental  attitudes  of 
owner  and  artist,  and  the  sympathy  of  each  for  the  other's 
standpoint.  It  is  this  combination  of  elements  which 
makes  the  charm  of  the  book-plate. 

Mottoes,  allegorical  allusions,  the  portrait  of  the 
owner  (alone  and  self-dependent  or  seated  in  his  library) , 
pictures  of  favorite  places,  the  paraphernalia  of  sports 
or  other  hobbies,  rows  of  books  labeled  with  the  names 
of  preferred  authors,  allusions  to  personal  achievement, 
wit  good  and  poor,  the  downright  pun, — such  elements, 
with  decorative  setting,  form  material  for  ex-libris. 
There  is  plenty  of  opportunity  for  the  display  of  poor 
taste.  An  apparent  anxiety  to  avoid  running  counter  to 
the  Scriptural  admonition  regarding  bushel-covered 
lights  may  result  in  a  parade  of  self-advertisement  that 
weighs  down  the  designer's  freedom  of  expression,  as 
the    Old    Man    of    the    Sea    did    Sindbad    the    Sailor. 


298  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

(Beraldi  boldly  asserts  that  "the  worth  of  a  bibliophile 
is  in  inverse  ratio  to  the  dimension  of  his  ex-libris.") 
But  if  the  owner  may  be  too  much  in  evidence,  so,  too, 
may  the  artist.  An  attempt  to  make  a  book-plate  a  com- 
pressed pictorial  biography  may  prove  fatuous,  but  it  is 
equally  unfortunate  to  make  it  a  miniature  mural  decora- 
tion or  poster,  or  to  utilize  it  in  the  exploitation  of  super- 
advanced  artistic  idiotisms.  Not  stiffness,  not  even  nec- 
essarily absolute  seriousness,  but  a  certain  dignity  is 
called  for  here;  vagaries  are  out  of  order.  The  final 
purpose  should  always  be  kept  in  view. 

Appropriateness  is  a  prime  necessity,  appropriateness 
in  conception,  design  and  execution,  the  last  implying  a 
proper  regard  for  the  reproductive  medium.  The  prin- 
ciples of  taste  which  govern  our  judgment  of  any  prints 
hold  good  here  as  well. 

The  book-plate  may  indicate  the  owner's  taste  with 
no  distinct  reference  to  him,  as  when  A.  A.  Hopkins 
adopts  an  illustration  from  the  "  Hypnerotomachia  Poli- 
philii  "  (Florence,  1499),  or  another  a  figure  from  Bot- 
ticelli's "  Spring,"  or  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  the  cham- 
bered nautilus.  Or  the  allusion  may  be  more  direct,  as 
in  Francis  Wilson's  plate,  which  represents  a  court- 
jester  lost  amid  old  volumes  while  time  goes  on  unheeded. 
Lawrence  Barrett  showed  a  mask  of  tragedy  and  an  open 
book,  Laurence  Hutton's  a  statuette  of  Thackeray.  The 
one  designed  for  Brander  Matthews  by  Edwin  A.  Abbey 
depicts  an  Indian  looking  at  a  huge  Greek  mask  of  Com- 
edy, with  the  sentence  Que  pensez-vous  de  cette  comedie? 
A  reproduction   of   Daniel   Maclise's   sketch  of  Lamb 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  299 

serves  Frank  Evans  Marshall,  Pan  charmed  shepherd 
and  nymphs  with  his  pipes,  with  le  cceur  au  metier,  m  E. 
C.  Stedman's  device,  and  pen  and  sword  were  contrasted 
for  George  W.  Childs.  The  library  interior  is  a  familiar 
form  of  indicating  the  love  of  literature,  and  the  point 
is  occasionally  made  more  personal  by  showing  the  owner 
among  his  books.  But  the  influence  of  literature  on  life 
may  also  be  expressed  allegorically,  as  in  E.  Irenseus 
Stevenson's  plate  (showing  the  serpent  with  the  apple  of 
knowledge)  or  John  Herbert  Coming's  (by  Henry  Sand- 
ham)  :  Atlas  supporting  the  world  of  letters. 

The  love  of  both  books  and  nature  is  indicated  in  a 
number  of  plates  by  a  library  interior  with  a  window 
giving  an  outlook  on  fields  and  woods  and  brooks  and 
sky:  so  in  those  of  Georgia  Medora  Lee  and  Charlotte 
Anita  Whitney.  Jack  London's  "  Call  of  the  Wild  "  is 
personified  by  the  head  of  a  wolf.  In  Alexander  Mel- 
ville Bell's,  designed  by  himself,  a  pair  of  lips,  a  key  and 
an  open  book  play  their  symbolical  part,  which  is  not  too 
difficult  to  interpret. 

There  may  be  the  reference  to  the  owner's  profession 
or  occupation, — the  bookbinders  at  work  in  E.  D. 
French's  plate  for  Henry  Blackwell,  the  skull  and  micro- 
scope in  that  by  J.  H.  Fincken  for  Dr.  Edwin  S.  Potter, 
the  engraver's  tools  embodied  In  Samuel  P.  Avery's 
plate,  as  they  had  been  in  John  Andrew's. 

Similarly  the  owner's  hobbies  or  passions  or  favorite 
pastimes  form  a  favorite  theme;  one  has  but  to  think, 
for  instance,  of  the  angling  plates  of  Dean  Sage,  Heck- 
scher,  Daniel  B.  Fearing,  Howland  or  Joseph  W.  Simp- 


300  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

son  (both  owner  and  designer).  Birds  figure,  of  course, 
in  the  plate  of  Olive  Thorne  Miller,  by  W.  E.  Fisher;  a 
hornbook  indicates  George  A.  Plimpton's  specializing, 
as  a  collector,  in  educational  publications. 

A  new  form  of  the  old  admonition  not  to  steal  was 
employed  by  Dr.  George  L.  Parmele,  a  trumpeting  herald 
bearing  a  banner  inscribed:  Verloren!  Verloren!  Ein 
Buck. 

In  such  various  ways  does  the  ex-libris  give  us  some 
idea  of  the  owner's  tastes,  theories,  pastimes,  studies, 
work  and  surroundings. 

When  a  plate  is  to  be  made  for  a  public  or  semi-public 
library,  institutional  aims  are  to  be  recorded  and  not 
personal  tastes.  In  such  a  case,  expression  in  terms  of 
stately  impressiveness  rather  than  of  sympathetic  grace 
is  called  for.  Without  insisting  on  the  choice,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  problem  was  happily  solved  in  such  plates 
as  French's  for  Harvard's  Hohenzollern  Collection, 
Princeton  University  and  the  American  Institute  of  Elec- 
trical Engineers;  Spenceley's  for  the  University  of  Mis- 
souri, Harvard  University,  Boston  Public  Library,  Dav- 
enport Academy  of  Sciences  and  Library  of  the  New 
Theater,  New  York  City;  Hopson's  for  the  Blackstone 
Public  Library,  Branford,  Conn. ;  S.  L.  Smith's  for  the 
public  libraries  of  Boston,  Lynn,  Bangor  and  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  and  for  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society;  and  Garrett's  for  the  Lowell  City  Library. 

The  preface  to  the  catalogue  of  the  exhibit  of  the  Club 
of  Odd  Volumes  (Boston,  1898)  stated  that  it  included 
"  many  uninteresting  and  even  extremely  ugly  things  " 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  301 

gathered  for  the  purpose  of  "  showing  how  unsatisfactory 
the  great  number  of  book-plates  used  by  the  public  li- 
braries, the  libraries  of  colleges  and  of  other  institutions 
of  learning,  is."  In  like  manner,  Sheldon  Cheney,  writ- 
ing in  the  "Book-Plate  Booklet"  for  February,  1909, 
on  "  The  Public  Library  Book-Plate,"  speaks  of  the 
"  great  number  of  utterly  wretched  book-plates  used  in 
our  public  libraries,"  but  notes  also  some  satisfactory 
ones.  These  satisfactory  ones  are  to  be  found  not  only 
among  those  which  have  gained  from  the  stately  formal- 
ity of  the  line-engraving.  Not  a  few  plates  for  libraries, 
reproduced  in  recent  years  by  processes  based  on  the 
initial  action  of  the  camera,  have  shown  artistic  feeling 
joined  to  an  appreciative  understanding  of  the  problem. 
In  fact,  they  are  numerous  enough  to  make  choice  dif- 
ficult, and  it  is  a  selection  at  random  that  results  in  the 
naming  of  W.  E.  Fisher's  design  for  the  Wadsworth 
Library,  Geneseo,  N.  Y.,  Mrs.  A.  R.  Wheelan's  for  the 
University  of  California,  and  George  W.  Edwards's  for 
the  Public  Library  of  New  London  (nautical  in  spirit). 
Among  commercial  undertakings  one  would  not  so 
readily  expect  to  find  interesting  material,  but  there  are 
the  plates  of  the  Alton  Railway  and  of  the  New  England 
Telephone  and  Telegraph  Co.  (by  W.  C.  Bamburgh). 
Clubs,  on  the  other  hand,  naturally  seem  to  offer  oppor- 
tunities for  the  designer,  and  we  have,  indeed,  such  plates 
as  those  for  the  Authors'  Club  and  the  Grolier  Club  (the 
first  one),  both  by  George  Wharton  Edwards;  the  Cen- 
tury Association,  New  York,  by  James  D.  Smillie;  Uni- 
versity Club  of  Boston,  by  E.  H.  Garrett;  University 


302  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Club  of  Washington,  by  Henry  Sandham;  Boston  Brown- 
ing Society,  by  F.  T.  Merrill;  Chicago  Woman's  Club, 
by  Claude  Bragdon,  and  Woman's  Club,  Wisconsin,  by 
J.  W.  Spenceley. 

The  ex-libris  remains  in  its  totality  a  "  document,"  a 
phase  of  human  activity  which  not  only  cannot  be  over- 
looked, but  which  repays  study,  and  is  of  most  varied 
charm.  It  appeals  through  personal,  historical  or  lit- 
erary association,  it  attracts  as  an  instance  of  art  applied, 
as  one  of  the  many  forms  in  which  art  may  be  made  an 
integral  part  of  daily  life.  Specifically  the  artist's  prov- 
ince, when  the  basic  ideas  have  been  decided  on,  is  the 
design,  the  co-ordination  of  the  various  elements  into  an 
orderly  whole.  Over-elaboration,  here,  is  as  objection- 
able as  a  slighting  of  essential  possibilities.  One  of  the 
problems  always  is  the  arrangement  of  name  and  motto; 
a  problem  similar  to  that  of  the  ornamental  value  of 
lettering  on  medals,  exemplified,  say,  by  the  work  of 
Pisanello.  The  medium  employed — the  formal  line-en- 
graving on  copper,  the  free  etching,  the  vigorous  wood- 
cut, or  the  photo-mechanical  processes  frequently  used  to- 
day— has  also  its  distinct  and  important  part  in  the  result. 
Adjustment  of  medium  to  style  we  find  in  the  best  art  of 
any  kind,  and  so  here  also. 

From  the  heraldic  magnificence  and  stately  formality 
of  the  old  line-engraving  period  we  passed  to  the  present- 
day  free  expression  of  thought,  or  of  passing  mood  or 
whim.  This  expression  is  quite  often  transmitted  by  the 
immedlateness  of  the  photo-mechanical  processes.  But 
it  frequently  finds  a  medium  also  in  the  older  method  and 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  303 

in  wood-engraving  as  well,  and  in  this  very  diversity  of 
means  by  which  the  modern  viewpoint  finds  voice,  lies  a 
reason  for  a  wider  appreciation  of  this  specialty  in 
graphic  art. 

The  best  traditions  of  line-engraving  on  copper  were 
perpetuated  by  Edwin  Davis  French,  in  the  late  nine- 
teenth and  early  twentieth  centuries,  with  signal  success. 
He  employed  formalized  foliage,  as  did  Beham  and  other 
German  masters,  and  with  a  sure  control  of  his  particular 
decorative  vein  that  drew  endless  diversity  of  effect  from 
the  same  motive  without  ever  striking  a  forced  note. 
There  is  in  his  art  a  dignified  beauty  of  decorative  line, 
a  calm  nobihty  of  expression  and  a  sonority  of  utterance 
that  give  it  a  commanding  position,  a  place  apart,  that 
have  made  him  a  classic  in  our  records  of  the  art.  J. 
Winfred  Spenceley  turned  to  book-plate  engraving  on 
copper  at  about  the  same  time  as  French,  from  whose 
style  his  own  differs  in  having  more  variety  in  design 
and  a  somewhat  freer  touch.  This  effect  was  heightened 
by  his  use  of  the  etching  needle,  particularly  in  landscape 
work.  One  has  no  desire  nor  reason  to  make  invidious 
comparisons  between  two  artists  who  not  only  were  good 
friends,  but  neither  of  whom  the  lover  of  book-plate  art 
would  care  to  miss.  A  happy  combination  of  adaptative- 
ness  and  individuality,  of  dignity  and  a  certain  free, 
etcher-like  touch  in  his  landscapes,  are  the  predominant 
characteristics  in  Spenceley's  work.  Similar  notes  of  di- 
versity are  felt  in  the  line-engravings  of  Sidney  L.  Smith 
and  W.  F.  Hopson,  who  exhibit  that  combination  of 
variety  in  treatment  with  dignity  and  restraint  in  expres- 


304  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

sion  which  produces  the  happiest  results  in  these  marks 
of  bibhophilic  proprietorship.  Hopson  has  exercised  the 
mastery  of  the  practised  engraver  also  on  the  wood 
block,  which  medium  W.  J.  Linton,  A.  Allen  Lewis, 
George  Wolfe  Plank,  Hugh  M.  Eaton  and  Rud.  Ruzicka 
have  also  employed,  as  has  William  Miller,  in  a  cut  of 
noteworthy  delicacy  after  a  design  by  E.  Hamilton  Bell. 
J.  H.  Fincken  (who  uses  also  etching  and  stipple),  Dr. 
A.  J.  Brown  (working  in  the  spirit  of  E.  D.  French), 
Frederick  Spenceley  and  A.  N.  Macdonald  also  express 
themselves  in  the  formal  stateliness  born  of  the  union 
of  burin  and  copper-plate.  E.  H.  Garrett  speaks,  and 
with  fluency  and  grace,  in  the  freer  language  of  the  etch- 
ing needle,  which  has  served  the  purposes  also  of  W.  H. 
H.  Bicknell  and  S.  Hollyer  (whose  plate  for  Mary  An- 
derson has  been  described  as  a  "  most  charming  bit  of 
engraving").  And  there  are  also  the  etchers  who  have 
turned  aside  to  do  a  book-plate, — usually  their  own  only, 
rarely  another  for  a  friend, — C.  F.  W.  Mielatz,  E.  L. 
Warner,  Dr.  L.  M.  Yale  (for  Dr.  A.  M.  Gerster), 
Thomas  Johnson,  James  D.  Smillie,  R.  F.  Williams. 

The  combination  of  graver  and  copper-plate  imposes 
its  limits  and  its  distinction  on  the  work  of  the  en- 
gravers named,  which,  while  differing  in  style  and  in 
degree  of  freedom,  bears  in  every  case  a  certain  stamp  of 
reserve.  For  the  artist  who  draws  for  the  photo- 
mechanical process  no  such  technical  limits  are  set;  the 
very  facility  of  reproduction  invites  free  expression  and 
tempts  those  who  have  a  tendency  to  go  beyond  proper 
artistic  bounds.      It  is  decidedly  to   the   credit  of  our 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  305 

younger  designers  of  book-plates  that  the  whole  of  their 
work,  subjected  to  so  many  influences,  and  with  so  many 
opportunities  for  going  astray,  is  so  satisfactory.  At  its 
best,  though  usually  pictorial,  it  is  not  overloaded,  but 
simple  and  direct  in  intent  and  execution. 

A  number  of  designers  have  devoted  themselves  more 
or  less  habitually  to  this  specialty:  L.  S.  Ipsen,  Wilbur 
Macey  Stone  (with  preference  for  floral  themes) ,  George 
Wharton  Edwards,  Jay  Chambers,  William  Edgar 
Fisher,  Mrs.  Albertine  Randall  Wheelan,  George  R. 
Halm,  D.  McN.  Staufi^er  (who  did  half  a  hundred 
plates),  Louis  J.  Rhead  (pictorial,  with  decorative  poster 
reminiscences),  Sheldon  Cheney,  Howard  Sill,  E.  B.  Bird, 
Hugh  M.  Eaton,  H.  C.  Brown,  and  The  Triptych  ("A 
few  Book- Plates  and  other  Dainty  Devices,"  1900,  and 
"  Book-Plates  designed,  engraved  and  printed  by  the 
Triptych,"  New  York,  1906).  Simple  lines  and  flat  sur- 
faces, with  some  employment  of  color,  are  characteristics 
which  mark  much  of  this  modern  work. 

In  the  "  Book-Plate  Booklet "  have  appeared  articles, 
often  accompanied  by  lists  of  plates,  on  W.  E.  Fisher,  C. 
Valentine  Kirby,  Arthur  H.  Noll,  Claude  Bragdon  (who 
made  the  pertinent  statement  that  "  a  book-plate  should 
be  simple  and  personal"),  Emma  J.  Totten,  Arthur 
Wellington  Clark  (not  averse  to  a  pictorial  pun),  Francis 
T.  Chamberlain,  Margaret  Ely  Webb,  Mrs.  A.  R. 
Wheelan  (an  "  artist  thinker  ";  her  designs  mostly  sym- 
bolical, with  a  "Western  flavor"),  E.  J.  Cross,  G.  H. 
Gihon  (etcher),  Mrs.  Mary  Eleanor  Curran,  the  last 
four  of  California,  French,  J.  W.  and  F.  Spenceley,  Hop- 


3o6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

son,  Fincken  and  Plank.  And  to  these  may  be  added  the 
names  of  Christia  M.  Reade,  Mrs.  Bertha  Jaques, 
Ralph  Fletcher  Seymour  and  Emma  Kipling  Hess,  prom- 
inent in  the  "  book-plate  number  "  of  the  "  Sketch  Book  " 
(Chicago)  for  May,  1903,  as  also  those  of  Mary  L. 
Prindiville  and  Frank  Chouteau  Brown,  subjects  of  arti- 
cles in  "  Ex  Libris  "  ( 1896-97) . 

In  the  activity  indicated  by  all  the  names  mentioned 
the  amateur  has  had  his  part,  and  a  creditable  one,  wit- 
ness Stauffer,  A.  J.  Brown,  H.  C.  Eno,  Cheney,  A.  H. 
Noll  and  A.  W.  Clark. 

A  number  of  able  artists  have  devoted  all  or  much  of 
their  energy  to  this  form  of  art,  fascinating  to  many. 
But  one  notes  with  a  shade  of  regret  the  comparatively 
few  cases  in  which  an  American  painter  or  other  artist 
has  turned  aside  from  brush  and  canvas,  or  other  media, 
to  design  an  occasional  plate.  Some  who  have  turned 
to  the  designing  of  a  book-plate  are:  Elihu  Vedder, 
E.  H.  Blashfield,  W.  H.  Lippincott,  Winslow  Homer, 
Howard  Pyle,  Henry  Sandham,  James  E.  Kelly,  C.  R. 
Lamb,  A.  F.  Jaccaci,  George  Gibbs,  Joseph  Lauber,  Joe 
Evans  (plate  for  Richard  Hoe  Lawrence,  1881),  Thom- 
son Willing,  Victor  S.  Perard,  Henry  Mayer  and  A.  F. 
Matthews.  To  them  may  be  added  the  architects  Russell 
Sturgis  (Avery  Architectural  Library,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity: in  form  of  tablet),  Charles  I.  Berg,  A.  W. 
Brunner,  George  Fletcher  Babb  (Theodore  L.  De  Vinne 
plate,  with  books  In  a  cartouche,  flanked  by  hermes)  and 
Howard  Van  Doren  Shaw. 

We  seem  still  too  much  dominated  by  the  idea  that 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  307 

art,  "  high  art,"  is  painting  or  sculpture,  and  that  most 
other  forms  can  be  left  to  the  artist-artizan  or  treated 
as  a  bit  of  byplay.  The  realization  must  come  that  art, 
after  all,  should  be  the  general  application  of  principles 
of  beauty  in  our  daily  life,  and  that  this  application  is 
not  unworthy  of  the  best  talent. 

The  committee  in  charge  of  the  exhibit  of  the  Club  of 
Odd  Volumes  in  Boston,  1898,  in  the  preface  to  the  cata- 
logue, summarized  its  impressions  of  American  achieve- 
ment thus : 

"  Although  America  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  nations 
to  be  affected  by  the  book-plate  revival,  it  has  taken  the 
lead  in  the  matter  of  artistic  plates  and  in  the  number  of 
good  plates  produced.  ...  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  great  impetus  came  only  about  five  years  ago. 
In  this  short  time,  with  the  encouragement  of  enthusiastic 
collectors,  our  book-plate  engravers  and  designers  have 
placed  this  country  ahead  of  all  others  in  quantity  as  well 
as  quality  of  work." 

The  call  of  the  book-plate  has  become  widespread  and 
has  occasioned  a  voluminous  literature.  The  work  of 
our  American  designers  is  dealt  with  in  general  in  a 
number  of  books  beside  those  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
this  chapter.  So  in  W.  M.  Stone's  "Women  Designers  of 
Book-Plates"  (published  for  "The  Triptych,"  New  York, 
1902),  the  designers  including  a  number  of  Americans, 
Mrs.  Wheelan,  Mrs.  Beulah  M.  Clute,  Bessie  Pease, 
Mrs.  Annie  Hooper  (who  won  a  prize  in  a  competition 
"  instituted  by  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Artists  "),  Pamela 
Colman  Smith,  Miss  Bonsall  and  Miss  Hallowell  of  the 


3o8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Plastic  Club  of  Philadelphia,  and  others,  even  a  prodigy 
of  four  and  a  half  years.  In  the  bibliography  of  our  sub- 
ject there  figure  furthermore  Henry  W.  Fincham's  "  Ar- 
tists and  Engravers  of  British  and  American  Book- 
Plates  "  (New  York  and  London,  1897)  5  W.  G.  Bow- 
doin's  "  The  Rise  of  the  Book-Plate  "  (1901)  ;  "  Book- 
Plates  of  To-day"  (1902)  edited  by  W.  M.  Stone; 
"  Book-Plates  of  well-known  Americans  "  by  Clifford  N. 
Carver;  Allen's  "Ex  Libris:  Essays  of  a  Collector" 
(Boston  and  New  York,  1896) ,  and  Zella  Allen  Dixson's 
"  Concerning  Book  Plates:  a  Hand  Book  for  Collectors  " 
(1903).  Periodical  articles  are  listed  in  C.  D.  Allen's 
"  American  Book-Plates  "  and  in  Bowdoin's  book.  And 
a  number  of  monographs  on  individuals  have  appeared, 
beside  those  on  French  and  Spenceley,  noted  elsewhere. 
From  the  Troutsdale  Press  were  issued  volumes  on  E. 
H.  Garrett  (1904),  D.  McN.  Stauffer,  Ipsen,  Spenceley, 
Herbert  Gregson,  Elisha  Brown  Bird  (1907),  Louis  J. 
Rhead,  Mrs.  Marguerite  Scribner  Frost,  Ralph  Fletcher 
Seymour  and  others.  In  each  case  there  were  reproduc- 
tions of  a  selection  of  plates  by  the  artist  in  question, 
with  descriptive  text,  the  latter  being  by  W.  H.  Downes, 
W.  Porter  Truesdell,  F.  C.  Brown,  W.  G.  Bowdoin  and 
others.  A  similar  publication  on  Jay  Chambers  was  ad- 
vertised by  "  The  Triptych,"  in  1902. 

Personal  reasons,  literary  associations,  the  love  of  pos- 
session, and  particularly  the  diversity  of  artistic  individ- 
uality displayed  in  these  little  plates,  which  may  tell  so 
much  within  a  small  compass,  have  brought  about  a  spe- 
cialization, in  this  direction,  of  the  collecting  spirit.    The 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  309 

names  of  Henry  Blackwell,  H.  C.  Eno,  Dr.  Charles  E. 
Clark,  the  late  John  P.  Woodbury,  Wm.  E.  Baillie  and 
many  others  may  be  found  in  lists  in  the  Allen  and  Dix- 
son  books,  as  also  in  Blackwell's  articles  in  the  "  Book- 
Buyer  "  in  the  nineties,  and  in  scattered  references  in 
*'  Ex-Libris  "  and  the  "  Book-Plate  Booklet."  An  at- 
tempt was  made  to  unite  interest  in  this  subject  into  asso- 
ciated effort,  by  the  founding  of  an  American  Book-Plate 
Society  (Washington,  D.  C),  with  its  organ  in  the  form 
of  "  Ex-Libris,"  which  lived  through  four  numbers  (vol- 
ume i:  July,  1896-April,  1897).  In  1907  was  formed 
the  California  Book-Plate  Society,  the  moving  spirit 
being  Sheldon  Cheney,  who  during  1907- 11  issued  at 
Berkeley,  Cal.,  the  "  Book-Plate  Booklet,"  succeeding 
"  California  Book-Plates."  This  periodical,  now  pub- 
lished at  Kansas  City  as  the  "  Ex-Libran,"  helped  to 
rouse  and  keep  alive  interest  in  the  West. 

Collectors  of  ex-libris  are  to-day  not  only  not  few  in 
number,  but  some  of  them — notably  W.  Baillie  and  H. 
Blackwell — have  brought  together  particularly  many  of 
these  plates.  To  the  collector,  furthermore,  there  is  due 
directly  or  indirectly,  the  publication  of  most  of  the  vari- 
ous writings  dealing  with  the  American  side  of  our  sub- 
ject. There  are  the  pioneer  contributions  to  periodicals 
by  R.  C.  Lichtenstein  and  J.  H.  Dubbs,  C.  D.  Allen's 
books,  already  noted,  and  his  paper  read  before  the  Club 
of  Odd  Volumes  (1901),  and  the  monographs  on  E.  D. 
French  by  Paul  Lemperly  (Cleveland,  1899)  and  Ira 
H.  Brainerd  (New  York,  1908)  and  on  J.  W.  Spenceley 
by  Pierre  de  Chaignon  la  Rose  (Boston,  1905)  and  J.  M. 


3IO  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Andreini  (1910).  So  the  collectors  themselves  have 
worked  well  to  preserve  the  record  of  American  accom- 
plishment in  a  specialty  which  within  its  limits  has  offered 
the  artist  such  varied  opportunities. 

Exhibitions  of  book-plates — some  consisting  entirely, 
others  partly,  of  American  work — have  been  held  at  the 
Grolier  Club  (1894:  "A  classified  List  of  early  Amer- 
ican Book-Plates  .  .  ."  by  C.  D.  Allen),  at  the  Boston 
Museum  of  Art  by  the  Club  of  Odd  Volumes  (the  cata- 
logue, 1898,  lists  2,218  pieces,  over  one-half  of  them 
American),  the  Caxton  Club,  Chicago  (1898),  the  Lynn 
Public  Library  (Dr.  Charles  E.  Clark's  collection,  1907), 
Society  of  Colonial  Dames  (Colonial  plates,  1908;  cata- 
logue, with  introduction  by  D.  M.  Stauffer),  the  Cali- 
fornia Book- Plate  Society  (Berkeley,  1908)  and  the  New 
York  Public  Library  (1910).  The  "  Book-Plate  Book- 
let" in  1907  announced  that  a  permanent  exhibit  of 
plates  from  the  collection  of  the  Library  had  been  set  up 
in  the  library  building  at  Berkeley,  that  the  California 
State  Library  was  preparing  a  traveling  exhibit,  and  that 
four  exhibitions  of  book-plates  had  been  held  at  the  Li- 
brary of  the  University  of  California,  in  connection  with 
the  summer  library  school.  *'  One  man  shows  "  were  de- 
voted to  E.  D.  French  in  Cleveland  (1899),  the  New 
York  Public  Library  (1907)  and  the  Grolier  Club 
(1909)  ;  to  J.  W.  Spenceley  at  the  last  two  named  places; 
and  to  Mrs.  A.  R.  Wheelan  in  San  Francisco  (1904). 
Book-plates  appear  also  in  New  York  at  the  exhibitions 
of  the  Architectural  League,  the  National  Arts  Club  and 
the  Salmagundi  Club. 


By  E    A.  Abbey 


By  W.  F.  Ilo^ison 


Kannie  Lamberton  Wilbur 


By  W.  E.  Fisher 


By   S.  L.  Smith  By  G.  W.  Edwards 

A  Group  ok  Modern  Book-plates 

(Courtesy  of  Charles  Scribner's  Sons) 


THE  BOOK-PLATE  311 

And  there  are  permanent  collections  preserved  in 
public  institutions, — the  New  York  Public  Library,  Co- 
lumbia University,  University  of  California  (plates  by 
California  artists)  and  elsewhere;  also  in  the  British 
Museum,  where  is  housed  the  large  collection  of  British 
and  American  plates,  brought  together  by  Sir  Augustus 
Wollaston  Franks,  and  listed  in  a  three-volume  catalogue 
(1903-04)  by  E.  R.  J.  Gambler  Howe. 

In  the  light  of  these  recent  dates,  the  opinion  of  Arlo 
Bates  (writing  to  the  "Book  Buyer,"  Feb.  10,  1888) 
that  "  the  book-plate  collecting  craze  seems  to  have  died 
out  in  Boston,"  looks  a  bit  premature.  But  perhaps  it  is 
true,  after  all;  a  craze  has  died  out,  not  the  interest. 


CHAPTER  XV 

APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART:  FROM  BUSINESS 
CARD  TO  POSTER 

Surely,  ours  is  the  land  of  the  advertiser.  The  re- 
sults of  his  activity  confront  us  at  every  step.  His  en- 
terprise is  colossal,  his  inventiveness  remarkable,  his  per- 
sistence mind-penetrating.  In  general,  effect  is  sought  by 
repetition,  by  the  force  of  unusual  size,  or  brilliancy  or 
garishness.  However,  the  "  ad  "  that  is  in  good  taste  is 
becoming  more  common;  the  artistic  one  is  still  not  over- 
whelmingly in  evidence.  We  have  yet  to  appreciate  more 
generally  that  an  advertisement  may  be  effective  both  com- 
mercially and  artistically.  Not  that  there  is  a  want  of 
good  drawing  in  many  of  the  advertisements  that  we  see 
in  cars  and  elsewhere.  But  there  is  too  often  nothing 
beyond  the  dryest  pictorial  statement  of  fact.  When  you 
come  across  such  a  conceit  as  the  one  shown  by  Edward 
Penfield  in  a  cover  for  a  March  "  Harper," — a  young 
woman  scurrying  before  the  strong  wind  usually  associated 
with  that  month  (which  has  even  whipped  her  copy  of 
the  magazine  out  of  her  hands),  accompanied  by  a  hare 
of  sufficient,  though  self-contained,  madness, — it  strikes 
with  the  pleasant  effect  of  the  unusual.  Whether  the  fre- 
quent display  of  a  lack  of  particular  concentration  or 
thought  or  a  stimulating  inventiveness  is  due  to  artist  or 
client  or  the  public  it  would,  perhaps,  be  idle  to  discuss 

312 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  313 

here.  Perhaps,  too,  there  may  be  certain  condescension 
on  the  part  of  some  artists  who  occasionally  turn  to  such 
"  minor  arts."  But  a  work  will  surely  bear  on  its  face 
the  mark  of  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  approached.  If  it 
was  treated  as  a  "pot-boiler,"  it  will  appear  as  one;  if 
it  was  undertaken  with  both  the  earnest  desire  and  the 
ability  to  put  all  that  was  possible  into  it,  the  dignity  of 
the  intention  ennobles  the  result.  And  so  a  beer-bottle 
label  may  rise  to  a  height  that  many  an  easel  painting 
does  not  attain.  The  artists  of  the  Kiinstlerbund  in 
Karlsruhe,  Germany,  saw  this  when  they  undertook,  with 
the  necessary  knowledge  and  humility,  the  designing  of 
such  labels  for  bottles  and  tin  cans,  of  business  cards  and 
advertisements.  German  art  in  this  field  is  not  by  any 
means  to  be  generally  commended;  the  puerile  overcrowd- 
ing of  advertisements,  the  pretension  that  tries  to  make 
a  mural  painting  of  a  poster,  is  not  unknown  in  Teutonia. 
But  the  exercise  of  the  great  virtue  of  appropriateness 
which  we  find  in  the  best  work  over  there,  caused  a  writer 
in  the  "  Evening  Post  "  of  October  22,  19 10,  to  say,  with 
reference  to  the  "  3d  annual  exhibition  of  advertising  art  " 
at  the  National  Arts  Club,  New  York  City:  "The  prin- 
cipal lesson  of  the  exhibition  is  how  far  superior  the  Ger- 
mans are  to  us  in  the  pictorial  advertisement."  And 
farther  on:  "The  thing  to  be  advertised  is  forced  upon 
you,  and  inoffensively  forced."  We  have  here  an  inter- 
esting illustration  of  the  fact,  pointed  out  by  J.  N.  Laur- 
vik  in  a  review  of  the  same  exhibition  ("  International 
Studio,"  December,  19 10)  in  the  words:  "  A  proper  sense 
of  the  fitness  of  things  is  the  underlying  principle  of  all 


314  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

good  art."  Of  course,  all  this  is  not  said  with  the  idea 
that  we  are  to  copy  the  Germans ;  it  is  the  spirit  in  which 
some  of  them  attack  the  problem  that  is  held  up  to  emula- 
tion. Nor  is  it  implied  that  our  artists  lack  ability;  the 
mere  thought  would  be  silenced  at  sight  of  drawings  by 
F.  X.  Leyendecker,  Penfield,  Maxfield  Parrish  and  others 
who  have  at  various  times  placed  their  pencils  at  the 
service  of  commerce. 

The  strongly  artistic  element  in  our  advertisements,  and 
the  importance  of  this  phase  of  art,  were  well  indicated 
by  Frank  Jewett  Mather,  Jr.,  in  an  essay  entitled  "  Do 
the  Arts  make  for  Peace?"  quoted  editorially  in  "Art 
and  Progress,"  April,  1912:  "  And  while  our  miUionaires 
are  wresting  the  accredited  treasures  of  older  art  from 
aristocracy,  in  the  most  democratic  fashion  possible  the 
illustrated  magazine  and  even  the  advertisement  are  bring- 
ing a  respectable  and  an  improving  grade  of  pictorial  art 
to  the  millions.  Here  is  a  jumble  of  activities,  vanities, 
cruder  and  finer  desires,  which  shows  at  least  that  art  is 
very  alive  in  our  civilization." 

But  one  feels  that  there  might  be  a  closer  relation  be- 
tween commerce  and  art,  a  better  understanding.  A 
peculiar  comment  on  the  existence  of  this  possibility  may 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  same  business  interests  which 
look,  apparently  unmoved,  on  omnipresent  disfiguring  bill- 
boards and  signs,  ugly  and  pretentious  architecture  and 
paper-littered  streets,  will  speak  primarily  of  the  beauty 
and  fineness  of  their  home  city  when  commending  it  to  the 
outsider. 

Our  present-day  "  ads,"  as  we  see  them  displayed  on 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  315 

cards  in  cars,  are  mainly  text,  with  pictures  thrown  in  by 
way  of  emphasis.  They  are  usually  statements  of  fact, 
pointed,  sometimes  humorous,  printed  on  a  card  which 
is  in  part  occupied  by  a  picture.  There  is  often  no  rela- 
tion between  type  and  illustration,  the  decorative  quality 
being  absent.  The  display  of  humor  is  comparatively 
rare,  and  is  apt  to  run  to  caricature.  An  example  of  the 
force  of  grotesque  types,  insistently  presented  in  various 
circumstances,  is  offered  by  Mrs.  Grace  G.  Wiederseim's 
peculiar  infants  singing  the  praises  of  a  certain  product 
with  the  haunting  persistence  of  droll  appeal.  Another 
set  of  car-posters,  effective  both  in  drawings  and  text,  was 
the  "  Spotless  Town  "  series  of  a  certain  cleaning  com- 
pound. 

There  is  not  a  little  clever  drawing  in  these  advertise- 
ments. It  is  indeed  a  far  cry  from  the  few  and  unam- 
bitious efforts  which  were  made  at  pictorial  advertising 
in  the  days  of  wood-engraving,  to  the  superabundancy  of 
such  material  in  these  times  of  more  rapid  and  cheaper 
reproductive  processes.  In  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  they  did  not  go  much  beyond  stock  cuts  such  as 
the  little  railway  trains,  or  ships,  which  puffed  or  sailed 
at  the  head  of  newspaper  advertisements  of  transportation 
companies.  A  little  later  came  the  use  of  woodcuts  of 
show  fixtures  bearing  an  assortment  of  hats  or  shoes  (D. 
Haines  engraved  on  copper,  in  1822,  a  high  hat  on  a 
stand  on  a  card  for  Tweedy  &  Benedict,  hatters).  Then 
there  were  such  conceits  as  an  elephant  rushing  along  tri- 
umphantly bearing  aloft  a  pennant  on  which  appeared  the 
name  of  the  firm  advertised,   or  a  sandwich  man  with 


3i6  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

similar  information.  In  the  advertising  columns  of  the 
"Illustrated  American  News"  of  185 1,  a  thresher,  a 
piano,  a  carriage,  a  horse,  top  offers  of  those  articles, 
while  the  letters  "  BANNERS,"  upheld  by  little  nude 
figures,  announce  the  business  of  a  sign-painter.  Such 
cuts  were  used  also  on  business  cards,  a  form  of  pictorial 
advertising  not  common  now.  In  cigarette  cards  with 
portraits  of  actresses  or  pictures  of  military  uniforms  the 
pictures  advertise  indirectly,  having,  of  course,  no  relation 
to  the  object  sold.  The  same  applies  to  the  spool-cotton 
concern's  cards  with  landscape  sketches  in  color  by  Charles 
Graham, — "  exquisite,"  as  H.  A.  Ogden  described  them 
to  me. 

Continuing  this  retrospective  record  of  this  form  of 
applied  art,  material  is  found  also  in  the  days  of  copper- 
plate engraving,  particularly  during  the  later  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  the  earlier  ones  of  the  nineteenth. 
Then,  a  number  of  our  engravers  were  turning  an  honest 
penny  in  producing  card  plates  for  business  purposes. 
One  has  but  to  run  over  the  pages  of  Stauffer's  book  on 
American  engravers,  or  of  the  catalogue  of  the  exhibition 
at  the  Boston  Museum  In  1904,  to  see  how  frequently 
this  was  done.  Paul  Revere,  Joseph  Callender,  William 
Hamlin  (who  engraved  several  cards  for  his  own  nautical 
Instrument  business),  St.  Memin  (a  card  for  Peter 
Mourgeon,  "  copper-plate  printer  from  Paris,"  of  New 
York),  Peter  Maverick  and  Chllds  &  Carpenter  (1822) 
were  among  the  engravers  of  such  cards,  sometimes  with 
lettering  only,  again  with  added  vignettes  to  illustrate  for 
the  man  who   ran.     Pictorial  billheads    were  done  by 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  317 

Revere,  Henry  Dawkins,  Hingston  and  Callender.  And 
on  the  wood  block,  Alexander  Anderson  and  Abel  Bowen 
did  similar  cards  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  the  copper-plates,  the  formality  and  dignity 
of  the  medium  was  inevitably  mirrored  in  the  result, 
just  as  to-day  the  work  shows  the  effect  of  the  freedom 
afforded  by  the  ease  of  reproduction  through  modern 
reproductive  processes. 

A  familiar  form  of  advertising  is  the  poster,  and  that 
was  long  the  domain  of  the  wood-cutter.  The  work  was 
done  on  planks  of  wood,  basswood,  usually,  perhaps;  but 
mahogany  was  also  used.  T.  D,  Sugden,  the  wood-en- 
graver, wrote :  "  J.  Morse  .  .  .  working  for  Mr. 
Welch's  circus  on  mahogany  blocks."  And  W.  J.  Linton, 
quoting  B.  J.  Lossing  ("  Memoir  of  Alexander  Ander- 
son," New  York,  1872,  p.  80)  :  "The  younger  Lansing 
then  [1838]  engraved  only  the  large  coarse  theater  bills, 
using  mahogany  for  the  purpose."  He  continues: 
*'  Joseph  W.  Morse,  at  that  time  with  Strong,  was,  I 
believe,  the  first  who  engraved  these  on  pine  with  an  open 
graver,  about  1840;  and  Strong  first  produced  them,  from 
designs  by  George  Thomas,  in  combination  of  colors." 

Crude  these  things  were  at  best,  though  effective  in  a 
simple  way.  The  coloring  was  mainly  on  the  chiaroscuro 
principle;  a  tint-block  or  two,  with  lights  cut  out  in  the 
shape  of  heavy  white  lines.  Some  of  them  were  repro- 
duced in  "The  Modern  Poster"  (New  York,  1895); 
these  were  done  by  the  Metropolitan  Print  Co.,  in  one 
case  designed  by  Robert  Joste.  These  woodcut  posters 
were  used  well  into  the  eighties,  A.  S.  Seer  issuing  many, 


3i8  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

as  also  Richardson  &  Foos.  They  have  been  seen  in  New 
York's  subway  stations  quite  recently.  Moreover,  James 
Britton,  who  engraved  some  effective  posters  from  his 
own  designs  a  dozen  years  ago,  showed  what  could  be 
done  with  the  simple  tools  used  by  the  engravers  of  the 
Calhoun  Co.  (Hartford,  Conn.),  wood-carvers'  tools 
ground  down  to  the  length  of  a  boxwood  graver,  the 
blade  being  grooved  to  prevent  splitting  in  the  wood,  bass- 
wood,  quite  soft  and  free  from  knots. 

Lithography  has  long  since  seized  on  the  specialty  of 
the  poster.  Indeed,  Mr.  Louis  Maurer,  the  lithographer, 
has  recollection  of  posters  designed  by  Peter  Kramer  as 
early  as  1863  or  '4.  Mr.  Maurer,  who  was  then  with 
Major  &  Knapp,  thinks  also  that  Kramer,  who,  as  H.  G. 
Plumb  says,  produced  some  of  the  best  theatrical  posters 
before  1870,  did  such  work  on  large  plates  of  zinc,  add- 
ing that  the  use  of  zinc  as  a  substitute  for  the  lithographic 
stone  long  antedated  that  of  aluminum.  Kramer,  who 
was  with  Ferd.  Mayer  &  Sons  (Fulton  St.,  New  York), 
did  for  that  house  a  humorous  advertisement  issued  for 
the  Liederkranz  Carnival  of  February  4,  1871. 

Theatrical  posters — both  the  large  for  billboards  and 
the  small  for  windows — were  particularly  numerous  dur- 
ing the  seventies  and  eighties.  They  were  always  either 
portraits  of  individual  actors  (H.  A.  Thomas,  Napoleon 
Sarony  and  Joseph  E.  Baker  signed  many)  or  illustrations 
of  scenes  in  the  play,  the  more  startling  and  thrilling  the 
better.  As  several  posters  were  sometimes  made  for  one 
play,  the  boy  in  those  days  of  the  melodramatic  Bartley 
Campbell  and  the  resplendently  scenic  Kiralfy  Brothers 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  319 

(e.g.,  "  Around  the  World  In  Eighty  Days  ")  could  often 
gain  a  fair  idea  of  the  delights  in  store  by  studying  the 
pictures  in  the  various  shop  windows.  A  collection  of 
such  posters  shows  much  very  poor  work,  with  at  best 
such  smooth,  sure  crayon-drawing,  as  the  facile  and  rather 
monotonous  and  fuzzy  portraits  by  Baker  for  J.  H.  Buf- 
ford  and  Forbes  Co. 

But  there  came  also  the  rising  influence  of  Matthew 
Somerville  ("Matt")  Morgan  (1839-90),  felt  even  in 
the  later  work  of  such  a  draughtsman  as  Vic.  Arnold. 

Matt  Morgan,  brought  over  as  a  political  cartooning 
antidote  to  Thomas  Nast,  found  his  success  in  scene  paint- 
ing and  poster  art.  He,  too,  did  illustrative  (not  decora- 
tive) posters,  but  did  them  with  noteworthy  skill.  Some 
of  his  works  are  remembered  to-day;  the  design  for  the 
Kiralfy  Brothers'  Black  Venus  was  one  of  them.  Litho- 
graphs such  as  the  two  he  did  illustrating  the  frozen  river 
scene  in  Jay  Rial's  Ideal  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  were  effective 
in  a  scenic  way.  But  he  also  executed  portraits  of 
actresses  which,  while  drawn  with  a  certain  freedom  in 
the  figures,  left  nothing  to  be  desired,  in  the  faces,  in  the 
way  of  smooth,  flat,  uninteresting  reproduction  of  the 
photographic  original.  Yet  one  must  be  thankful  for  the 
best  of  his  productions,  when  compared  with  such  indiffer- 
ent affairs  as  the  one  printed  by  A.  S.  Seer,  for  Daly's 
production  of  the  Taming  of  the  Shrew  (1888).  Much 
of  Morgan's  work  was  signed,  and  this  very  compliment 
paid  to  an  artist's  importance  no  doubt  not  only  implied 
more  than  common  ability  to  begin  with,  but  awoke  a 
natural  desire  to  live  up  to  the  reputation.     I  found  the 


320  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

monogram  of  Henry  F.  Farny  on  at  least  one  poster, 
a  Venetian  moonlight  scene  done  for  Bartley  Campbell's 
Galley  Slave  and  printed  by  the  Strobridge  Co.  And 
H.  A.  Ogden,  who  did  a  large  number  of  the  pictorial 
class,  anonymously,  signed  his  name  to  two  done  in  1896, 
for  Madame  Sans-Gene,  each  consisting  of  a  single  figure 
with  some  background  and  the  lettering.  They  are  prob- 
ably among  his  best,  posters  purely,  and  not  illustra- 
tive. 

The  Strobridge  Lithographic  Co.  (with  which  Morgan 
was  connected  and  for  which  H.  A.  Ogden  has  drawn 
scenes  in  many  plays,  from  the  late  seventies  to  the  pres- 
ent day),  A.  S.  Seer,  Forbes  Co.  of  Boston  (J.  E.  Baker, 
their  artist),  Thomas  and  Wylie  (Dan  Smith  was  with 
Thomas  about  1885,  says  Louis  Maurer),  W.  J.  Morgan 
&  Co.  were  prominently  identified  with  this  period. 

H.  C.  Bunner's  graceful  comments  (to  be  referred  to 
later)  on  America's  part  in  the  mural  art  of  advertising 
were  illustrated  with  an  interesting  series  of  reproductions 
of  theatrical  and  circus  posters  by  E.  Potthast,  Matt 
Morgan  (both  identified  with  the  Strobridge  Co.), 
Joseph  E.  Baker,  Theodore  Liebler,  Hugo  Ziegfeld  (H. 
C.  Miner-Springer  Litho.  Co.),  F.  M.  Hutchins  and  one 
by  A.  Hoen  &  Co.  Most  of  this  was  smooth,  uninterest- 
ing work  in  which  any  artistic  originality  had  little  chance. 
Even  when  a  French  poster  was  used  for  Around  the 
World  in  Eighty  Days,  it  was  a  small  affair  drawn  by 
F.  Lix,  engraved  on  wood,  simply  a  collection  of  illus- 
trations with  figures  not  over  an  inch  high;  not  a  poster, 
in  effect. 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  321 

Meanwhile,  Cheret  arose  in  France,  but  the  influence  of 
the  principles  which  his  work  expressed  was  hardly  felt 
here,  except  in  frank  imitations,  such  as  the  figure  of  a 
ballet  girl  announcing  a  run  of  the  Black  Crook  at  the 
Academy  of  Music  (New  York)  in  1892.  C.  B,  Cochran 
(in  "The  Poster,"  London,  July,  1898)  puts  the  date 
at  1894,  and  states  that  the  poster  design  was  bought  in 
Paris  by  Eugene  Tompkins  and  used  here.  Cochran 
records  also  that  this  Cheret  poster  was  followed  by  two 
by  Jacobi  for  Kiralfy's  Eldorado  and  Koster  &  Dial's 
Music  Hall,  respectively,  and  these  by  the  designs  of 
Scotson  Clark,  There  are  recorded  also  such  sporadic 
examples  as  Bradley's  poster  for  The  Masqueraders,  F.  A. 
Nankivell's  Marie  Hatton  poster  for  Koster  &  Bial's — 
"  indeed  a  thing  of  beauty,"  wrote  Cochran — and  Wilfred 
Denslow  (sometimes  a  la  Bradley,  sometimes  broadly 
humorous,  as  W,  S.  Rogers  says).  Will  R.  Barnes  and 
others  are  named. 

Thus  the  merely  illustrative  commercial  poster  did  not 
hold  the  field  entirely.  Decorative  possibilities  began  to 
be  appreciated  and  efforts  were  made  to  establish  harmony 
between  lettering  and  design.  Charles  Hiatt  ("  Picture 
Posters,"  London,  1895)  and  W,  S.  Rogers  ("A  Book 
of  the  Poster,"  London,  1901)  each  have  chapters  on 
American  posters,  in  which  many  names  are  cited  of  which 
some  are  already  but  vaguely  remembered.  This  new 
spirit  was  felt  less,  perhaps,  in  theatrical  posters  than  in 
those  issued  by  magazines  and  newspapers,  in  which  the 
limitations  imposed  called  for  exercise  of  artistic  ingenuity. 
The  result,  indeed,  was  not  infrequently  a  revel  in  decora- 


322  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

tive  effect  without  relation  to  the  thing  advertised,  just 
as  our  magazine  covers  (used  as  posters)  are  often  not 
cover  designs,  but  simply  pictures  slapped  on  below  a 
printed  title.  Nevertheless,  there  was  much  work  of  in- 
terest, and  it  all  was  stimulating. 

In  fact  there  was  for  a  while  (about  1894-5)  a  verita- 
ble poster  craze,  which,  as  R.  R.  Latimer  puts  it  ("  The 
Poster,"  London,  Aug.-Sep.,  1898),  "spread  like  wild- 
fire .  .  .  and  died  away  after  about  a  year  of  frenzied 
enthusiasm."  It  had  its  own  literature,  among  which 
was  C.  K.  Bolton's  "  The  Reign  of  the  Poster  "  (Boston, 
1895,  14  P^g^s).  A  little  poster  periodical  ("The 
Poster")  was  issued  in  New  York  in  1896.  Collections 
were  formed;  for  instance  that  of  Charles  Knowles  Bolton 
(now  librarian  of  the  Boston  Athenaeum),  who  brought 
out  in  May,  1895,  ^  "  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Posters 
chiefly  American  in  the  collection  of  Charles  Knowles 
Bolton  with  biographical  Notes  and  a  Bibliography." 
Other  collectors  recorded  are  Alfred  Bartlett,  of  Cornhill, 
William  T.  Peoples  of  New  York,  who  specialized  on 
French  posters,  Wilbur  Cherrier  Whitehead  (catalogue 
printed  1895),  George  Dudley  Seymour,  of  New  Haven, 
spoken  of  by  Elbert  Hubbard  in  "  Ex-Libris  "  for  Janu- 
ary, 1897,  and  Henry  Lawrence  Sparks,  whose  collecting 
activity  embraces  various  lands  and  comes  down  to  the 
present  time.  Part  of  the  Sparks  collection  was  shown 
at  the  Salmagundi  Club,  New  York,  in  19 12, 

Exhibitions  were  held  also  during  this  period,  at  the 
Brookline  (Mass.)  Public  Library  (Feb.  11-20,  1895, 
arranged  by  C.  K.  Bolton)  ;  at  the  Union  League  Club, 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  323 

New  York  City,  (Feb.  14-16,  1895);  Pratt  Institute 
(March,  1895:  American  and  French  work);  Denver 
(Exhibition  of  artistic  Posters,  chiefly  American,  from 
the  private  Collections  of  J.  H.  Warren,  "  The  Book 
Leaf,"  and  the  Denver  Public  Library,  July  i8g^)  ;  C.  S. 
Pratt's,  169  6th  Avenue,  New  York  City,  October,  1895 
(J.  Brevoort  Cox  did  a  poster  for  this) ;  Mechanic's 
Institute,  Boston  (the  catalogue  of  which  was  heralded 
by  a  poster  by  Claude  Fayette  Bragdon,  "  after  Willette," 
and  E.  B.  Bird  designed  one  for  the  poster  exhibit  of  the 
"  Mechanic's  Fair,"  Boston,  1895)  ;  Rhode  Island  School 
of  Design,  Providence,  1895  (catalogue  printed)  ;  by  the 
"Echo"  of  Chicago,  1896  (catalogue  printed);  and  at 
the  Mercantile  Library,  New  York  City  (Feb.  12-15, 
1896) .  The  last-named  exhibit  consisted  of  the  collection 
of  the  librarian,  W.  T.  Peoples,  comprising  mainly  French 
work,  with  the  addition  of  loans  of  American  posters,  over 
900  in  all.  Mr.  Peoples  subsequently  loaned  the  pick 
of  his  posters  to  the  Philadelphia  Public  Library,  where 
they  were  shown  for  a  time,  and  some  of  them  were  also 
borrowed  by  churches  for  receptions  and  like  occasions. 
("  The  Critic  "  of  Feb.  23,  1895,  found  that  the  American 
designs  did  not  carry  so  far  as  the  French  and  therefore 
did  better  within  four  walls.)  A  little  later  (1899)  there 
was  an  exhibit  at  the  Fidelis  Club,  New  York,  where,  ac- 
cording to  Percival  Pollard,  1,500  examples  were  shown. 
An  earlier  display  at  the  Grolier  Club,  New  York  ( 1 890) , 
included  only  French  work.  This  club  itself,  by  the  way, 
contributed  to  the  advancement  of  the  movement  by  the 
issuance  of  a  delicate  and  appropriate  poster  heralding 


324  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

its  exhibition  of  Japanese  prints  and  an  address  by  How- 
ard Mansfield,  in  1896.  This  poster,  Mr.  Mansfield 
tells  me,  was  picked  up  in  a  lot  by  the  late  E.  B.  Holden, 
the  lettering  being  added  typographically. 

The  theatrical  poster,  not  particularly  affected  by  this 
movement  of  the  nineties,  continued  mainly  in  the  beaten 
path  of  realistic  representation,  often  on  a  very  large 
scale,  and  not  infrequently  attracting  attention  principally 
by  its  huge  proportions.  There  were  exceptions,  as  al- 
ready noted. 

But  in  those  days  it  was  the  magazine  and  book  pub- 
lishers who  were  the  main  support  of  this  new  spirit  In 
its  short-lived  tide  of  conspicuous  success.  "  Art  in  pos- 
ter-making has  in  this  country  found  Its  best  Inspiration, 
in  most  cases,  from  literature,"  said  H.  C.  Bunner,  in  his 
chapter  on  the  United  States,  in  "  The  Modern  Poster  " 
(New  York,  1895).  The  Harpers,  the  Century  Co., 
the  Scribners  and  others  issued  a  series  of  posters  (mostly 
small,  for  window  display)  advertising  their  magazines 
and  books.  The  "  Century  Magazine "  even  went 
abroad,  holding  a  poster  contest  In  Paris  In  1895 ;  Luclen 
Metivet  won  with  his  January,  1896,  Napoleon  poster. 
Another  foreign-made  poster  advertising  the  "  Century's  " 
life  of  Napoleon  was  the  equestrian  one  by  Grasset,  who 
much  later  came  before  our  billboard  public  again  with 
his  Bernhardt-Joan-of-Arc  design.  Boutel  de  Monvel 
was  also  laid  under  contribution  by  the  "  Century." 

However,  home  talent  was  widely  enlisted  and  accom- 
plished noteworthy  results.  Posters  for  books  were  de- 
signed by  Henry  McCarter   (a  green  tree  with  purple 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  325 

birds  for  the  Green  Tree  Library),  Ethel  Reed  (A.  M. 
Bagby's  "  Miss  Traumerei,"  with  a  suggestion  of  the 
French  romantiques,  and  Mabel  Blodgett's  "  Fairy 
Tales"),  Will  H.  Bradley  ("The  Modern  Poster,"  a 
peacock,  effective  in  green,  blue  and  white,  and  R.  D. 
Blackmore's  "  Fringitta "),  E.  A.  Abbey  ("Quest  of 
the  Holy  Grail,"  lettering  in  harmony  with  drawing,  well 
characterized  as  "bold  and  impressive"),  I.  R.  Wiles, 
Peter  Newell,  Maurice  Brazil  Prendergast,  Abby  E.  Un- 
derwood ("fashion  artist  for  the  New  York  Sun,"  said 
C.  K.  Bolton)  and  Will  P.  Hooper  (a  poster  each  for 
"  Chimmie  Fadden"),  C.  D.  Gibson,  H.  C.  Christy, 
F.  B.  Smith  ("Tom  Grogan  "  and  "The  Delft  Cat"), 
Thomas  Buford  Meteyard  ("  Songs  of  Vagabondia  "  and 
"The  Ebb  Tide"),  Vierge  ("On  the  Trail  of  Don 
Quixote  ") ,  Palmer  Cox  ( for  a  new  one  of  his  "  Brownie  " 
books),  E.  W.  Kemble  ("  Kemble's  Coons"),  Oliver 
Herford  ("  Artful  Anticks  "),  and  R.  W.  Chambers  (for 
his  "  King  in  Yellow  "  and  "  Father  Stafford  ") .  It  will 
be  noted  that  not  a  few  of  these  artists  thus  helped  to 
advertise  books  written,  or  illustrated,  or  both,  by  them- 
selves. It  has,  in  fact,  been  a  not  uncommon  practice  to 
transplant  some  illustration  in  a  book  directly  to  the 
poster  for  the  same.  (More  recently,  F.  Y.  Cory,  in  a 
design  in  yellow  on  black,  offered  a  summary  and  effective 
announcement  of  Josephine  Daskam's  "  Memoirs  of  a 
Baby.") 

John  Sloan,  who  in  those  days  was  quite  Beardsley- 
like  in  manner,  did  a  few  publishers'  announcements,  such 
as  the  characteristic  one   for  "  Cinder  Path  Tales,"  in 


326  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

black  on  brown  paper.  Both  he  (for  "  Philadelphia  In- 
quirer "  and  "Philadelphia  Press")  and  McCarter 
**  Lourdes,"  for  the  "  New  York  Herald  ")  designed  il- 
lustrations for  stories  in  the  "  poster  style,"  as  he  says. 
Sloan  describes  his  own  as  "  black  and  white,  in  flat  tints," ' 
and  adds  that  he  was  "  started  in  this  direction  partly 
through  a  Japanese  in  Philadelphia,  Beisen  Kuboda,  art 
commissioner  to  the  World's  Fair,  Chicago."  Here,  the 
personal  weight  was  presumably  added  to  the  general 
Japanese  influence  which  in  the  second  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  made  itself  felt  in  Caucasian  art.  McCar- 
ter's  "  Lourdes  "  illustrations  R.  W.  Chambers  character- 
ized as  "  intensely  sincere  and  decorative,"  adding  that 
neither  the  *'  Herald  "  nor  the  public  liked  them. 

It  was,  however,  the  announcements  for  magazines, 
more  than  those  for  books,  which  gave  opportunity  to 
poster  artists.  In  these  years,  1894-96,  the  "  Century" 
issued  designs  by  I.  R.  Wiles  (July,  1894),  George 
Wharton  Edwards;  Edward  Penfield;  Charles  H.  Wood- 
bury; Louis  Rhead  (Christmas  number:  woman  holding 
aloft  a  peacock  on  a  dish)  ;  the  three  prize  winners  in  the 
mid-summer  poster  competition,  1896:  J.  C.  Leyendecker 
(ist  prize),  Maxfield  Parrish  (2d),  Baron  Arild  Rosen- 
krantz  (3d)  ;  E.  Potthast  (highly  commended  in  the  same 
competition);  H.  M.  Rosenberg  (1896);  E.  B.  Bird; 
H.  M.  Lawrence;  and  later  ,F.  Berkeley  Smith.  "St. 
Nicholas  "  used  designs  by  Louis  Rhead  and  Moores. 
"  Scribner's "  (for  which  H.  C.  Brown  had  drawn  as 
early  as  1891,  and  Victor  S.  Perard  in  1892)  employed 
L.  L.  Roush  (1894),  Francis  Day,  Kenyon  Cox  (March, 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  327 

1895,  figure  and  lettering  in  effective  harmony),  Birch, 
Will  Carqueville,  W.  Granville  Smith,  L.  J.  Rhead,  W. 
H.  Low,  W.  T.  Smedley,  Sergeant  Kendall  (portraits  of 
C.  S.  Reinhart  and  R.  F.  Blum  as  artist  contributors)  ; 
Geo.  M.  Reevs,  H.  McCarter,  Hy  Mayer  ("Olympic 
Games  "  number).  Furthermore,  there  were  posters  for 
"Harper's  Bazar"  by  Rhead;  "  Lippincott's  "  by  Will 
Carqueville  and  J.  J.  Gould,  Jr.;  "Atlantic"  by  R.  R. 
Emerson  (July,  1895);  "Youth's  Companion"  by  W. 
L,  Taylor;  "Illustrated  American"  by  Archie  Gunn; 
"  Bookman  "  by  Rhead  and  G.  C.  Parker;  "  Overland 
Magazine"  by  L.  M.  Dickson  (1895)  and  E.  B.  Bird; 
"Quarterly  Illustrator"  by  W.  J.  Yegel;  "Outing"  by 
H.  S.  Watson;  "  Truth  "  by  Hy  Mayer  and  E.  Haskell; 
"  Chap  Book  "  by  W.  H.  Bradley  and  E.  B.  Bird;  "  Black 
Cat "  by  E.  B.  Bird;  "  Inland  Printer  "  by  Will  Bradley 
(1894-5)  and  E.  B.  Bird;  "  Bostonian "  by  A.  G. 
Learned;  and  "  Moods  "  (Philadelphia)  by  John  Sloan, 
who  describes  this  periodical  as  the  "  nearest  attempt  a  la 
'  Yellow  Book '  done  in  this  country,"  and  states  that  it 
went  through  a  couple  of  numbers. 

The  newspapers  at  this  time  (still  1894-95)  availed 
themselves  to  a  noteworthy  extent  of  the  aid  of  the  poster 
in  its  new  manifestation.  Drawings  by  Miles  C.  Gard- 
ner, Wm.  M.  Paxton,  Charles  M.  Howard,  Ethel  Reed 
and  E.  H.  Garrett  were  issued  for  the  "  Boston  Sunday 
Herald  " ;  by  Rhead  for  the  "  Boston  Transcript  " ;  by 
Frank  King,  R.  F.  Outcault  (Easter  number,  1895), 
M.  de  Lipman,  Alder  (had  "  all  the  go  and  deviltry  and 
'  chic  '  that  Guillaume  possesses,"  said  R.  W.  Chambers) 


328  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

for  the  "  New  York  World,"  for  which  Dan  Smith,  in 
1903,  did  a  huge  announcement  of  its  anniversary  number 
of  May  loth;  by  Charles  Hubbard  Wright  (Easter, 
1895)  for  the  "  New  York  Herald  ";  by  de  Yonghe  for 
the  "  New  York  Times  " ;  by  Henry  B.  Eddy  and  E. 
Haskell  for  the  Sunday  issues  of  the  "Journal"  (New 
York) ;  by  Will  H.  Bradley  for  the  Chicago  Sunday 
"Tribune"  and  "Echo";  by  Biorn  and  Nankivell  for 
the  "  Chicago  Echo  " ;  by  Will  W.  Denslow  for  the 
"Chronicle,"  "Herald"  and  "Times-Herald,"  all  of 
Chicago;  by  Ottmann  for  the  "Chicago  Tribune";  by 
Mrs,  Alice  R.  Glenny  for  the  woman's  edition  of  the 
"  Buffalo  Courier  ";  by  Claude  Fayette  Bragdon  for  the 
"  Rochester  Post-Express,"  and  by  Louis  J.  Rhead  for 
the  "  New  York  Sun." 

As  one  looks  over  the  list  of  the  artists  drawn  to  the 
service  of  the  magazine  and  newspaper  advertiser  in  those 
days,  an  interesting  agglomeration  of  personalities  is  en- 
countered. The  names  of  the  many  who  were  laid  under 
contribution  by  the  spirit  of  poster  improvement  empha- 
size the  inclusiveness  of  the  choice,  though  it  did  not 
always  fall  on  those  who  showed  peculiar  fitness  for  the 
task  or  a  full  appreciation  of  its  nature  and  possibilities. 
Discrimination,  understanding  and  singleness  of  purpose 
were  perhaps  not  always  evident  in  the  results,  though 
they  were  in  a  remarkably  large  number  of  cases.  At 
least  the  designs  were  usually  in  good  taste,  and  the  in- 
dividual artist  was  given  some  opportunity. 

Bradley  was  one  of  those  who  attacked  the  problem 
with  serious  intent.     He  brought  to  the  task  some  of  the 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  329 

influence  of  Beardsley,  more,  perhaps,  of  the  spirit  of 
the  old  wood-engravers,  and  certainly  a  decorative  in- 
stinct quite  his  own.  The  complete,  a  little  involved,  ex- 
pression of  this  bent  toward  ornamental  fullness  some- 
what detracted  at  times  from  the  absolute  effectiveness 
of  his  works  as  posters,  an  element  less  apparent  in  his 
color-plate  for  *'  Modern  Posters,"  already  referred  to, 
than  in  some  of  his  line  work.  The  "  Inland  Printer  " 
posters  and  particularly  those  for  the  "  Chap  Book  "  are 
noteworthy  products  by  one  who  was  a  prominent  exam- 
ple of  what  Percival  Pollard,  in  "  Poster,"  London,  Feb- 
ruary, 1899,  called  "  the  earliest  efflorescence  of  the  Amer- 
ican poster."  His  poster  for  the  "  Historical  Musical 
Exhibition  under  the  auspices  of  Chickering  &  Sons " 
(Boston,  1902)  is  somewhat  Parrish-like,  with  an  eigh- 
teenth-century woodcut  effect.  It  represents  a  taste  for 
quaint,  old-time  spirit  which  has  frequently  been  exercised, 
in  this  country,  but  not  always  with  as  good  taste  as  here. 
Bradley  even  attempted  a  magazine  for  the  "  exclusive 
display  of  his  various  efforts  in  decorative  art,"  with  the 
title:  "Bradley:  His  Book." 

Simplicity  and  directness,  two  important  factors  in  the 
attainment  of  the  poster's  prime  function, — to  advertise, 
to  attract  attention  and  to  hold  it, — have  marked  the 
work  of  Edward  Penfield,  who  has  been  particularly 
happy  in  some  of  his  conceits.  One  of  his  "  Harper  " 
posters  was  referred  to  at  the  beginning  of  the  present 
chapter;  in  another,  a  sportsman  is  so  absorbed  in  his 
magazine  that  he  entirely  overlooks  two  hares  almost 
within  reach  of  his  hand.     His  work  is  strong  in  its  em- 


330  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

phatic  directness  of  line  and  its  broad,  flat  tints.  Bunner 
used  his  "  March  hare  "  Harper  design  as  a  text  for  a 
little  disquisition  on  native  art:  "In  the  lightness,  fresh- 
ness and  purity  of  that  humor,  in  the  composition,  free 
without  license  and  unconventional  without  extravagance, 
in  the  striking  yet  inoffensive  use  of  color,  in  the  frankness 
and  unaffected  innocence  and  happy  simplicity  of  the 
whole  thing,  I  find  a  quality  which,  I  am  grateful  to  think, 
comes  to  the  American  artist  as  his  natural  and  honest 
birthright."  Penfield  himself,  in  his  introduction  to 
"  Posters  in  Miniature,"  summarily  states  a  basic  prin- 
ciple :  "  A  poster  should  tell  its  story  at  once — a  design 
that  needs  study  is  not  a  poster,  no  matter  how  well  it  is 
executed." 

The  work  of  Louis  Rhead,  who  was  doing  posters  for 
the  Harpers  and  the  Century  Co.  as  early  as  1890-91 
(see  Gleeson  White's  article  on  him  in  the  "  Studio  "  for 
1896),  was  striking,  at  times  based  on  daring  color 
schemes;  it  had  not  necessarily  any  relation  to  the  thing 
advertised.  As  I  remember  his  posters,  even  the  colors 
were  not  always  those  of  nature.  These  qualities  were 
quite  apparent  in  that  design  of  a  young  woman  walking 
in  a  field  used  by  the  "  Sun."  There  was  method  in  this 
outlandishness.  Few  lines,  flat  tints,  the  simplest  possible 
composition  were  combined,  in  that  particular  poster,  for 
instance,  into  a  harmonious  whole  which,  with  a  certain 
aloofness  from  material  facts,  attracted  attention  with  a 
blare  that  had  none  of  the  shrillness  of  vulgar  over- 
emphasis. In  a  second  article  on  posters,  in  the  "  New 
York  Times,"  February  23,  1896,  Robert  W.  Chambers 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  331 

gave  much  space  to  Rhead  and  those  who  "  out-Rheaded 
him." 

To  all  the  names  already  cited  may  be  added  the  fol- 
lowing, listed  by  C.  K.  Bolton :  S.  Cruset,  H.  McVickar, 
Bertram  Grosvenor  Goodhue  and  Julius  A.  Schweinfurth 
(Boston  Festival  Orchestra,  1895).  And  the  curious 
may  find  still  more  in  the  book  by  W.  S.  Rogers. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  posters  by  the  artists 
mentioned  were  reproduced  in  "  Some  Posters  reproduced 
by  Wm.  Troyon  Higbee  "  (Cleveland,  1895;  the  edition 
I  saw  was  limited  to  15  copies)  and  in  "  Posters  in  Minia- 
ture, with  an  Introduction  by  Edward  Penfield  "  (New 
York,  1896),  both  of  which  books  contained  also  por- 
traits of  a  number  of  the  poster  designers:  Abbey, 
E.  B.  Bird,  Bradley,  Carqueville,  C.  D.  Gibson,  Nanki- 
vell,  Penfield,  Ethel  Reed,  Rhead,  John  Sloan,  F.  B. 
Smith,  etc. 

In  the  days  of  the  poster  excitement  that  centered  about 
the  year  1895,  ^^en  the  art  world  was  seized  with  the 
fever,  to  this  extent  that  the  National  Academy  of  De- 
sign and  the  American  Water  Color  Society  in  1895  ^^^^ 
used  a  poster  designed  by  George  Wharton  Edwards, 
while  Charles  Herbert  Woodbury  is  credited  with  one 
for  the  Society  of  Painters  in  Water  Colors  of  Holland 
(exhibition  in  Chase's  gallery)  in  the  same  year.  The 
American  Water  Color  Society's  catalogue  cover  for  1895, 
by  George  Wharton  Edwards,  was  a  bit  overloaded,  per- 
haps, but  well  drawn  and  effective  in  its  way.  Inciden- 
tally it  was  a  punning  design,  the  young  woman  splash- 
ing **  water "  from  the  fountain,  and  the  peacocks  sug- 


332  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

gesting  "  color."  In  recent  years,  the  water-colorists  have 
used  on  their  covers  a  vignette  by  F.  S.  Church. 

A  poster,  done  no  doubt  in  the  early  eighties,  for  a 
"  Grand  concert  of  the  Gotham  Art  Students  "  (New 
York),  printed  by  Thomas  &  Wylie,  but  drawn  or  in- 
spired quite  evidently  by  artist  or  art  student,  illustrated 
a  probably  not  uncommon  error  of  the  designer  who  has 
more  respect  for  art  than  understanding  of  poster  needs. 
It  was  chaste  enough,  but  the  attempt  to  be  artistic  in  the 
figure  and  in  the  lettering  resulted  in  a  colorless  affair 
and  was  fatal  to  clearness. 

Subsequent  noteworthy  efforts  to  advertise  art  do  not 
come  to  mind,  beyond  an  occasional  affair  such  as  the 
one  by  Britton,  already  referred  to,  for  the  Connecticut 
League  of  Art  Students,  or  the  simple,  dignified  per- 
formance of  E.  H.  Blashfield  for  the  twenty-fifth  anni- 
versary of  the  Art  Students'  League,  of  New  York,  In 
1900.  Some  of  the  little  posters  of  this  same  League's 
"  Society  of  American  Fakirs  "  are  of  an  effective  direct- 
ness in  their  exuberant  humor,  for  instance  the  one  for 
the  "  fifteenth  annual  slam," — Satan  in  black  and  red. 
The  Society  of  American  Artists  used  the  figure  designed 
for  its  catalogue  cover  by  Will  H.  Low,  and  the  National 
Academy  of  Design  similarly  uses  its  cover  design. 

An  element  that  must  not  be  overlooked  is  the  impetus 
given  by  business.  Even  among  old  woodcut  posters  I 
came  across  an  announcement  of  "  gifts,"  issued  by  Paul 
&  Curtis,  594  Broadway,  with  the  traditional  Santa  Claus 
preparing  to  slide  down  the  chimney.  In  1896  the  New 
York  "  Poster  "  reproduced  various  designs  for  the  Co- 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  333 

lumbla  Bicycle,  including  Maxfield  Parrish's,  which  won 
first  prize.  Charles  D.  Farrand  also  did  a  poster  for 
this  bicycle,  and  Bradley  one  for  the  "  Victor,"  in  those 
days  of  the  cycling  fever.  "  Pearline "  (1895)  and 
Lundborg's  Perfumes  were  decoratively  advertised  by 
L.  J.  Rhead;  Hood's  Sarsaparilla  by  various  artists,  in- 
cluding Bradley,  who  also  heralded  "  Narcoticura," 
while  R.  Wagner,  it  appears,  was  engaged  by  tobacco 
houses.  "  Aetna  Dynamite  "  was  dealt  with  by  Penfield 
(his  design  showed  an  Italian  with  a  red  flag,  with  a 
suggestion  of  a  volcano  in  the  background),  and  the 
Hartford  Building  and  Loan  Association  as  well  as  the 
Millyer  Institute,  Hartford,  by  Wilbur  Macey  Stone. 
In  recent  years  some  of  the  dry-goods  houses  as  well  as 
other  business  concerns  have  been  testing  the  efficiency  of 
the  large  poster  on  elevated  and  subway  railroad  stations. 
Or  there  may  come  such  surprises  as  Jessie  Willcox 
Smith's  children  in  a  home  made  cheerful  by  a  certain 
brand  of  radiators. 

We  have  long  been  accustomed  to  seeing  the  shop  win- 
dow turned  into  a  portrait  gallery  of  candidates  in  the 
weeks  before  an  election.  But  where  the  poster  has 
entered  the  political  field  as  an  argument  it  has  quite 
naturally  been  typographical  in  the  main,  and  only  excep- 
tionally pictorial.  In  the  latter  case  the  vein  of  caricature 
is  apt  to  appear;  an  effective  newspaper  cartoon  may  be 
reproduced  on  a  large  scale,  or  a  pictorial  skit  drawn 
specially  for  the  occasion,  vide  Tammany's  "  Spotter's 
Town  "  series  in  New  York.  In  the  campaign  of  1903 
in  New  York  City  the  Citizen's  Union  in  its  fight  for 


334  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

Seth  Low  against  Tammany  utilized  designs  by  Chester 
Loomis  and  Ella  Condie  Lamb.  Allegorical  figures  (usu- 
ally one)  stood  for  the  various  departments  of  the  city's 
government  or  for  matters  of  vital  public  interest,  and 
served  as  a  sort  of  background  for  pithy  printed  state- 
ments and  comparisons.  Police,  Charities,  Health, 
Parks,  Schools,  Tenements,  Transportation,  Honesty, 
and  *'  Our  City  "  were  thus  treated  in  simple  and  direct 
manner.  These,  as  well  as  work  by  G.  W.  Edwards, 
James  Preston,  W.  W.  Fawcett,  F.  D.  Steele,  R.  E. 
Gould  Co,  and  O.  J.  Gude  Co.  were  shown  at  an  exhi- 
bition of  artistic  posters  and  advertising  matter  held  by 
the  Municipal  Art  Society  of  New  York  at  the  National 
Arts  Club  of  that  city  in  1906. 

So  we  have  come  to  more  recent  times,  and  the  ques- 
tion naturally  arises:  did  the  ebullient  poster  enthusiasm 
of  '95  leave  any  good  results?  In  reply,  one  need  but 
make  the  time-honored  comparison  of  *'  before  using  " 
and  "  after."  Since  the  advertising  world  swallowed  the 
dose  of  '95,  things  have  not  been  quite  the  same.  Not 
that  everything  is  rosy;  the  very  diversity  of  racial  ante- 
cedents, of  training  and  environment,  of  esthetic  and 
ethical  viewpoint,  in  our  land,  especially  in  that  congeries 
known  as  the  metropolis,  produces  much  that  is  objection- 
able in  the  general  whoop  to  be  heard.  But  it  strikes 
one  that  the  average  artistic  merit,  and  the  average  taste, 
of  the  pictorial  advertisement  Is  better  and  at  the  same 
time  applied  with  more  appropriateness  and  effectiveness 
than  "  before  the  poster  war."  And  if,  as  was  said 
at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  much  of  our  poster  and 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  335 

car  advertising  is  typographical  rather  than  pictorial, 
that  may  perhaps  be  due  to  the  fact  that  our  growing 
taste  for  better  art  has  not  yet  overcome  our  national 
tendency  to  talk. 

Occasional  opportunities  for  review  are  offered,  as  in 
the  exhibits  of  advertising  art  at  the  National  Arts  Club. 
On  memory  and  on  catalogues  of  such  shows  one  may 
draw  for  names  of  those  who  have  used  their  artistic 
capabilities  in  this  field, — Robert  J.  Wildhack,  F.  G. 
Cooper,  Orson  Lowell,  Walter  Meyner,  Gil  Spear,  Syd- 
ney Adamson,  Darwin  Teague  and  others. 

In  the  field  of  public  entertainments  on  a  large  scale 
we  have  had  the  poster  for  the  Electrical  Show,  Madison 
Square  Garden  (New  York  City,  1905),  signed  "  B  "  and 
printed  by  Seiter  &  Kappes;  or  that  of  the  Pan-American 
Exposition,  Buffalo  (1901),  produced  by  Gies  &  Co.,  an 
iridescent  personification  of  Niagara  Falls.  The  latter 
is  different  indeed  from  such  an  affair  as  that  of  the  Lewis 
&  Clark  Exhibition,  the  usual  bird's-eye  view,  though 
effective,  perhaps,  through  the  very  positiveness  of  its 
appeal.  A  disappointment  is  such  a  piece  of  work  as  the 
"  proclamation  "  for  the  New  Orleans  Mardi  Gras  of 
1904.  (I  name  here  posters  which  happen  to  have  come 
my  way,  without  pretense  at  general  inclusiveness,  for 
the  poster  is  elusive  indeed.)  Here,  too,  may  be  noted 
tHe  chaste  announcement  of  the  150th  anniversary  of 
King's  College,  1904. 

The  circus  poster  has  gone  on  its  accustomed  way  of 
effective  illustration  of  the  alliterative  and  imaginative 
grandiloquence  of  the  text.    T.  Arthur  Jacobsen's  hurdle- 


336  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

jumpers  for  "  Squadron  A.  games,"  and  Max  F.  Klep- 
per's  equestrian  scene  for  the  military  tournament,  both 
in  New  York  City,  were  attempts  to  characterize  shows 
by  typical  pictorial  generalities  rather  than  by  depiction 
of  specific  acts. 

In  recent  years  there  has  appeared  occasionally,  on 
very  large  theatrical  posters,  the  use  of  a  figure  or  two, 
life  size  or  over,  in  combination  with  a  minimum  of  text 
drawn  in  huge  letters,  the  whole  forming  a  not  unpleas- 
ing  effect.  Once  or  twice,  too,  a  welcome  change  from 
the  mammoth  illustrative  poster  has  been  found  in  the 
swirling  lines  of  Hy  Mayer  or  the  vivaciousness  of 
Archie  Gunn.  And  Ernest  Haskell  has  drawn  several 
studies  of  Mrs.  Minnie  Maddern  Fiske  which  attracted 
attention  by  their  very  reticence,  which  stood  out  by  the 
simplicity  of  means  by  which  they  were  produced.  There 
was  that  head  in  profile  to  left,  crayoned  with  an  almost 
pertly  incisive  characterization;  the  small  "  Becky 
Sharp"  in  full-length;  the  seated  figure  for  Mary  of 
Magdala,  with  its  aroma  of  Byzance  and  mosaics.  It  was 
unusual  to  see  a  painter-lithograph  actually  appear  on 
a  billboard,  the  unaltered  reproduction  of  the  artist's 
own  touch,  not  seen  dimly  through  the  intermediate  work 
of  the  practised  lithographer.  S.  de  Ivanowski's  almost 
life  size  full-length  presentation  of  Nazimova  attracted 
attention  on  similar  grounds. 

There  was  dignity  in  the  archer  used  for  Ulysses,  by 
Stephen  Phillips  (no  signature  but  that  of  the  Metro- 
politan Printing  Co.).  And  some  years  ago  the  same 
printers  signed  an  announcement  of  The  Ajax  of  Sopho- 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  337 

cles  enacted  by  the  Greeks  of  New  York  at  Clinton  Hall; 
appropriate  in  style,  modern,  yet  with  a  classic  strain, 
with  a  suggestion  of  Greek  vase  decoration  in  its  color. 
Quite  different  in  style,  with  kinship  to  Forain,  was  the 
drawing  by  Boardman  Robinson  used  by  the  Coburn 
Players  at  Columbia  University  in  19 11.  And  there  was 
that  series  of  window  posters  put  out  one  season  by 
Francis  Wilson,  sketches,  by  various  artists,  of  that 
actor  of  facile  fun-making. 

Without  the  help  of  any  craze,  posters  and  advertise- 
ments are  being  produced  which  command  attention  by 
their  good  qualities.  Some  commercial  ones  have  been 
mentioned  incidentally  while  discussing  earlier  work. 

More  recently  there  has  been  seen  an  occasional  effort 
to  do  something  out  of  the  ordinary  in  magazine  posters. 
One  recalls  with  amused  satisfaction  Frank  A.  Nanki- 
vell's  "  Mr.  Bibliocrank  "  crowded  out  of  his  house  by 
his  books  (done  for  the  defunct  "  Literary  Collector") 
— engraved  on  wood  by  the  artist,  and  tinted  from  two 
color  blocks  etched  on  zinc.  Arthur  Wesley  Dow's  de- 
sign for  "  Modern  Art "  edited  by  J.  M.  Bowles  will  al- 
ways remain  an  interesting  example  of  true  artistic  feel- 
ing and  mood  expressed  with  a  simplicity  of  means,  and 
a  terseness  of  statement  in  its  uninvolved  composition  and 
color,  that  form  a  straightforward  and  effective  response 
to  the  prime  requisites,  the  basic  demands  in  poster  art. 

Generally,  the  magazine  poster  to-day  is  a  printed  list 
of  contents  for  the  current  month  with  a  noteworthy  illus- 
tration of  that  issue  thrown  in,  or  a  reproduction  of  the 
cover.     For  the  cover  of  the  magazine,  changing  each 


338  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

month,  is  a  poster  in  itself,  a  striving  for  novelty,  in  fitful 
anxiety  to  be  heard  and  seen.  The  unchanged  cover, 
become  a  household  word — like  the  old  one  for  "  Har- 
per's," or  the  one  by  Vedder  which  long  served  the  "  Cen- 
tury " — is  the  exception.  The  cover  is  an  "  ad."  Pic- 
torial, too,  like  so  many  posters  and  advertisements,  pic- 
torial not  infrequently  without  the  slightest  reference  to 
the  general  nature  of  the  magazine  or  the  contents  of 
the  specific  number.  The  spirit  of  thoughtless  devotion  to 
a  type,  and  to  the  flourish  of  an  up-to-date  manner,  is  felt 
here  as  in  illustration.  In  fact,  cover  designing  is  often 
enough  simply  illustration. 

The  list  of  names  that  appear  on  cover  designs  includes 
those  of  many  able  artists.  Among  them  are  Will  Brad- 
ley, Wm.  Martin  Johnson  ("Harper's  Bazar,"  1893- 
95),  Maxfield  Parrish,  George  Wharton  Edwards,  Jo- 
seph C.  and  Frank  X.  Leyendecker,  George  F.  Tobin, 
Guernsey  Moore,  Binner,  Jessie  Willcox  Smith,  Henry 
Hutt,  John  Cecil  Clay,  and  Victor  S.  Perard. 

Not  a  few  of  their  products  are,  as  already  indicated, 
drawings  on  covers  rather  than  cover  designs.  But  there 
are  always  some  which  show  that  the  artist  really  had 
something  to  say,  something  that  had  to  do  with  the 
matter  in  hand. 

The  West  has  had  its  "  Sunset "  posters,  often  repro- 
ducing the  cover  design  and  often  very  good.  Meth- 
fessel  has  done  some  of  these,  and  particularly  Maynard 
Dixon;  there  is  quiet  humor  in  the  latter's  design  for 
December,  1904:  Santa  Claus  with  an  Indian  on  one  arm 
and  a  cowboy  on  the  other.     These  "  Sunset "  drawings 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  339 

have  a  freshness  and  swing  born  of  the  soil  and  with 
no  weakness  of  super-sensitive  preciosity  or  swagger  up- 
to-dateness. 

There  has  been  a  noteworthy  improvement  in  the 
get-up  of  dealers'  catalogues,  an  improvement  with  which 
the  influence  of  such  publications  as  "  Printing  Art "  and 
"  The  Graphic  Arts  "  has  presumably  had  something  to 
do.  This  has  extended  also  to  some  of  the  railway  guide- 
books. Penfield,  Haskell,  Perard  are  a  few  among  those 
who  have  decorated  the  catalogues  of  book-sellers  and  of 
various  industrial  concerns.  Signatures,  however,  rarely 
appear  on  the  products  of  this  phase  of  art,  which  was 
dealt  with  in  "  Twentieth  Century  Cover  Designs " 
(1902),  a  collection  of  nine  essays  issued  by  V.^H.  and 
E.  L.  Briggs. 

Cover  designs,  meaning,  of  course,  paper  covers,  nat- 
urally suggest  book-covers  of  cloth  or  leather.  Those, 
however,  are  not  quite  within  the  province  of  our  survey, 
and  there  must  not  be  more  than  a  mere  reference  to  a 
specialty  in  which  Walter  C.  Greenough  (see  "  American 
Bookmaker,"  July,  1890),  Alfred  Brennan,  Miss  Amy 
Sacker  of  Boston,  and  very  many  others  have  done  good 
work. 

But  since  we  have  got  away  from  the  advertising  at- 
mosphere which  has  pervaded  much  of  the  present  chap- 
ter, a  few  lines  may  be  given  to  the  holiday  card.  To-day 
that  represents  a  form  of  activity  enlisting  both  native 
and  foreign  energy,  and  so  extensive  and  commercialized 
that  detailed  consideration  is  not  called  for  here,  beyond 
the  recording  of  the  fact  that  there  are  some  evidences 


340  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

of  individuality,  as  in  the  designs  of  Mrs.  Bertha  E. 
Jaques  and  others  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere.  In  such 
the  tendency  is  toward  decorative  rather  than  pictorial 
effect. 

The  earlier  history  of  the  Christmas  card  in  this  coun- 
try is  interesting  on  account  of  the  names  associated  with 
it.  The  first  ones,  flower  cards,  were  designed  by  Mrs. 
O.  E.  Whitney,  who,  it  is  said,  based  her  idea  on  the 
decorated  business  card  of  Louis  Prang,  the  lithographer, 
shown  at  the  Vienna  Exposition  of  1873.  Then  came  the 
impetus  given  by  the  Centennial  Exhibition  of  1876.  In 
1880,  Prang  arranged  a  competitive  exhibition  at  the 
American  Art  Galleries,  New  York,  Samuel  Colman, 
Richard  M.  Hunt  and  E.  C.  Moore  being  the  judges. 
The  prizes  were  won  by  Rosina  Emmet  ( ist),  Alexander 
Sandler  (2d),  Alfred  Fredericks  (3d),  and  Anna  G. 
Morse  (4th).  At  a  second  competition  in  1881,  the 
judges  being  Samuel  Colman,  John  La  Farge,  and  Louis 
C.  Tiffany,  the  first  prize  went  to  Elihu  Vedder,  the  sec- 
ond to  Dora  Wheeler  (later  Mrs.  Keith),  the  third  to 
Charles  Caryll  Coleman,  the  fourth  to  Rosina  Emmet 
(later  Mrs.  Sherwood).  At  a  third  competition,  1881, 
two  groups  of  prizes  were  awarded,  one  by  the  ballot  of 
artists  and  art  critics,  the  other  by  popular  vote.  The 
first  group  went  to  Dora  Wheeler  (ist).  Miss  Lizbeth 
B.  Humphrey  (2d  and  3d),  Alfred  Fredericks  (4th). 
The  "  popular "  prizes  were  won  by  Dora  Wheeler 
(ist),  Walter  Satterlee  (2d),  Frederick  Dielman  (3d), 
Miss  Florence  Taber  (4th) .  For  the  fourth  competition, 
1884,   Mr.   Prang  commissioned   twenty-two   artists  of 


APPLIED  GRAPHIC  ART  341 

standing  to  paint  cards,  which  were  then  entered  in  a 
competition.  The  artists  were  J,  Carroll  Beckwith,  E. 
H.  Blashfield,  Robert  F.  Bloodgood,  I.  H.  Caliga, 
Thomas  W.  Dewing,  Frederick  Dielman,  Rosina  Em- 
met, Frederick  W.  Freer,  Alfred  Fredericks,  I.  M. 
Gaugengigl,  W.  St.  John  Harper,  Lizbeth  B.  Humphrey, 
Will  H.  Low,  Leon  Moran,  Percy  Moran,  Thomas 
Moran,  H.  Winthrop  Pierce,  A.  M.  Turner,  Douglas 
Volk,  J.  Alden  Weir,  C.  D.  Weldon,  Dora  Wheeler. 
The  prizes  were  awarded  by  dealers'  vote,  and  were 
taken  by  C.  D.  Weldon,  Will  H.  Low,  Thomas  Moran 
and  Frederick  Dielman,  in  the  order  indicated. 

To  these  names  were  added,  in  the  same  firm's  Easter 
card  list  for  1887,  those  of  Fidelia  Bridges,  Henry  Sand- 
ham,  Lizbeth  B.  Comins  and  others.  A  number  of  de- 
signs by  these  artists  are  reproduced  in  *'  Christmas 
cards  and  their  chief  Designers,"  by  Gleeson  White,  who 
says  of  these  cards:  "  The  charm  of  the  coloring  is  not 
to  be  attributed  entirely  to  a  larger  number  of  color 
printings,  or  superior  chromo-lithography ;  both  these 
factors  no  doubt  helped  to  give  the  peculiarly  harmonious 
result;  but  one  can  feel  beyond  this,  that  the  artists  em- 
ployed recognized  from  the  first  the  limitation  of  all  me- 
chanical reproduction,  however  perfectly  manipulated, 
and  designed  accordingly." 

The  story  of  these  Prang  competitions  Is  told  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  Prang  sale  (Boston,  1899)  and  in  an 
article  in  the  "Evening  Post"  (New  York)  for  De- 
cember 9,  191 1,  where  attention  Is  called  to  the  "very 
real  influence  in  the  education  of  taste  "  exerted  by  these 


342  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

bits  of  pasteboard.  It  is  for  this  last  reason  that  I  have 
given  this  matter  so  much  space,  and  for  the  spirit  of  the 
projector  who  laid  so  many  well-known  or  promising 
artists  under  contribution.  Here  was  one  example  of  the 
application  of  art  to  things  near  at  hand,  the  entrance  of 
art  into  daily  life.  And  the  problem  of  such  service  on 
the  part  of  art  without  a  loss  of  its  ideals,  a  service  that 
shall  be  just  to  both  parties,  is  always  with  us. 

To  indicate  just  two  possible  openings :  cards  of  invi- 
tation and  menus  are  pretty  generally  executed  under 
the  name,  and  in  the  spirit,  of  large  commercial  houses. 
To  find  an  artist's  signature — T.  Sindelar's,  for  instance 
— on  the  bill  of  fare  of  some  banquet,  is  the  exception. 
The  Kit-Kat  and  other  clubs  of  artists  have  occasionally 
sent  out  cards  of  invitation  designed  by  members.  And  in 
the  eighties  and  nineties,  exhibitions  of  the  works  of  indi- 
vidual artists,  arranged  by  dealers,  were  occasionally  ad- 
vertised by  cards  designed  by  the  artist  in  question.  But 
such  scattered  instances  do  not,  of  course,  indicate  any 
general  interest  in  an  application  of  artistic  principles,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  to  daily  commercial  needs. 

Where  the  artists  have  an  incentive  to  put  their  ener- 
gies really  to  the  task  we  get  results  that  attract  because 
they  are  attractive  within  the  bounds  of  appropriateness. 
Always  one  reverts  to  the  old  truth  that  the  medium,  the 
object  and  the  artist's  personality  must  be  considered  in 
combination. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abbey,  Edwin  Austin,  book-plate, 
298 ;  caricatures,  272,  283 ;  etch- 
ings, 10;  illustrations,  222,  223; 
lithographs,  202;  poster,  325, 
331 

Abernethie,    57,    65,   282 

"Academy,"   cited,   238 

Academy  of  Design:  See  National 
Academy   of    Design. 

Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  141 

Academy   of    Natural    Sciences,   82 

Adams,  Joseph  Alexander,  91,  144, 
145,    146 

Adamson,   P.   S.,  276 

Adamson,   Sydney,   335 

Advertisements,  chapter  xiv,  334; 
on  copper,  79,  316,  317;  on 
stone,  195;  on  wood,  140,  315, 
316,  317,  318;  See  also  Cards; 
Posters. 

Aid,   George   C,   44,   48 

Aikman,  Walter  M.,  etchings,  12; 
line-engravings,  104,  171,  172; 
wood  -  engravings,  161,  167; 
cited,   36 

Aitken,    Robert,    57,    63-64,    65,    72 

Akin,  James,  68,  80;  book-plates, 
292,  29$;  caricatures,  252;  lith- 
ographs,   190 

Alder,    327 

"Aldine,  or  Art  Journal  of 
America,    The,"    152 

Alexander,   F.,   184 

Alexander,  John  W.,  illustrations, 
227;    paintings   reproduced,    166 

Allard  view  of  New  York,  52 

Allardice,  Samuel,  80-81 ;  book- 
plates,  292 

Allen,  Charles  Dexter,  cited,  291, 
292.  293,   308,   309,   310 

Allen,  James,  55 

Allingham,    Mrs.,    220 

Allston,    Washington,    100 

Aluminum     used     in     lithography, 

American    Antiquarian    Society,    58 
American      Art      Galleries,      New 
York,    340 


"  American    Art    Review,"    26,    27, 

33,   131,   144,   164 
American   Art    Union,    5,    88,    117, 

208 
American    Bank-Note    Co.,    95,    96 
American    Book-Plate    Society,    309 
"  American       Bookmaker,"      cited, 

339 
"American    Gallery    of    Art,"    115 
American  girl,  illustrated,  233,  234 
American  Lithographic  Co.,  195 
"American    Magazine,"    18th   cen- 
tury,   56 
"American    Magazine,"    19th   cen- 
tury,   212 
"American     Monthly     Review     of 

Reviews,"    cited,    288 
American   Press   Association,    216 
American  subjects,  in  etching,  39- 
43 ;  in  line-engraving,  86,  88,  89 
American      Sunday-School     Union, 

144,   192 
American   Tract   Society,    147 
"  American    Universal    Magazine," 

72 
American     Water     Color     Society, 
II,   38,   no,   130,  135,  203;   pos- 
ter,   331,    332 
"American   Whig   Review,"    117 
"Analectic    Magazine,    The,"    75, 

125 

Anderson,    Alexander,    book-plates, 
292,   294;    caricatures,   247;    line 
and    stipple    engravings,    71,    81, 
93,    104;    wood-engravings,    140- 
142,     14s,    208,    247,    248,    317; 
his    portrait,    212 
Anderson,    Anna,    142 
Anderson,    E.,    162 
Anderson,    I.,    83 
Andreini,   J.    M.,    cited,    309-310 
Andrew,  John,   146,   150,  299 
Andrews    (Orr    &    Andrews),    148 
Andrews,  Joseph,   87,   89,  92,   100, 

142 
Andrews,    William    Loring,    cited, 
52,    55,    58,    59,    60,    62,    66,    67, 
70,    73,    105,    109 


345 


346 


INDEX 


Animal  subjects,  in  etching,  i8;  in 
illustration,  220,  221,  225;  in 
lithography,  183,  185;  in  wood- 
engraving,  140,  141,  142,  148, 
150,   163 

Annin,  William  B.,  147,  148,  150, 
151 ;  Annin  &  Smith,  128,  190, 
292;  Annin  &  Smith  Senefelder 
Lithographic  Co.,   190 

Annuals,  98-100,  114,  115,  116,  206 

Anthony,  Andrew  Varick  Stout, 
144,  150;  cited,  267 

Apollo  Association,   88,  97,   117 

Appian,   A.,    influence   of,    15 

Appleton,   Thomas   G.,   6 

Appleton   &   Co.,    150,    152 

"Appleton's  Journal,"   218 

Aquatint,  19,  21,  45,  m,  chapter 
vi,  122-133;  accessory  to  etch- 
ing, 131-133;  in  color,  122,  125, 
126,  127,  128,  130,  132;  for  il- 
lustrations, 122,  123,  125,  126, 
127;  as  a  painter-art,  130-133 

Archer,  John,   82 

Architectural    League,    310 

Armstrong,  Miss,  24 

Arnold,    Vic,   319 

"Art,    L',"    33,    164 

"Art   Amateur,   The,"   199 

Art  Club,   New   York,   134 

"  Art  Journal,"    159 

"  Art   and   Progress,"   44,    314 

Art  Students'  League,  New  York, 
etching   class,    38;    poster,    332 

Art  Union.  See  Apollo  Associa- 
tion; American  Art  Union;  Art 
Union  of  Philadelphia;  Western 
Art    Union. 

Art   Union   of  Philadelphia,   117 

Arthurs,  Stanley  M.,  237 

"  Artist's  assistant  in  drawing " 
[etc.],   cited,   2 

Ashe,  Edmund  M.,  237,  238 

Aston  Collection,  Springfield, 
Mass.,    169 

"Atlantic   Monthly,"  cited,   155 

"Atlas"    (1842),   2i6 

Attwood,   Francis   G.,   12,   279 

Atwater,  193 

Atwood,  John  M.  (Story  &  At- 
wood),    68 

Audubon,  John  J.,   128,   196 

Avery,  Samuel  Putnam,  wood- 
engravings,  148 ;  his  portrait, 
30;    his   book-plate,   299 

Avignon,   F.   d',   188 

Aylward,   W.   J.,  237 


B.,    poster,    335 

Babb,   George   Fletcher,   306 

Bacher,  Otto  H.,  etchings,  13,  24, 
25,  46;  monotypes,  133,  135;  pen 
drawings,    237;    cited,    6 

Bachmann,  186 

Baer,  William  J.,   199,  203 

Bailey,   Vernon   Howe,   237,   238 

Baker,  George  H.,  paintings  re- 
produced, 79 

Baker,  John,   3 

Baker,  Joseph  E.,  caricatures,  260, 
262;  etchings,  12;  posters,  318, 
319,  320 

Baker,  William  Spohn,  cited,  1, 
66,   70,   98,   loo 

Balch,   Vistus,    lOO 

Ball,    W.,    185 

Ballou,  Maturin  Murray,  215 

Bamburgh,    W.    C,    301 

Bank-note  engraving,  5;  early,  54, 
61-62;  on  wood,  138,  139;  19th 
century,  75,  80,  94-97,  loi,  103, 
106;   vignettes,   96,   143,   311 

Barber,  Alice.  See  Stephens,  A. 
B. 

Barber,  John  Warner,  63,  143 

Barker,    William,    55 

Barnard   &    Dick,    82 

Barnes,   Will  R.,   321 

Barnum,   Phineas   Taylor,   215 

Barralet,  John  James,  71,  82,  83, 
94,   295 

Barritt    (Lossing  &  Barritt),   148 

Barritt,    Leon,    284 

Barry,    August,    35 

Barry,  Charles  A.,  213 

Bartholomew,  Charles  L., 

("Bart"),  286,  287 

Bartlett,   William   Henry,   loi,   207 

Barton,   Emery   H.,   12 

Bassett,  W.   H.,   81 

Basswood,   for   posters,    318 

Bastien-Lepage,  Jules,  paintings 
reproduced,  34 

Bates,  Albert  C,  cited,  62,  291 

Bates,  Arlo,  cited,  311 

Bauer,    W.    C,    i6,    28 

Baulch,  A.  v.,  loi 

Bauncou,   J.,    186 

Beal,    W.    Goodrich,    16 

Beard,   Dan.   C,   214 

Beard,  Frank  (Thomas  Francis), 
219,  259,  276,  281 

Beard,   James   Carter,   213,   225 

Beardsley,  Aubrey,  influence  of, 
325.  327,  329 


INDEX 


347 


Beatty,  John  W.,   17 

Becker,   Joseph,    215 

Beckwith,   H.   E.,   103 

Beckwith,  J.  Carroll,  28,   199,  341 

Beer,  William,   cited,   189 

Bell,    Alexander    Melville,    299 

Bell,   E.   Hamilton,   304 

Bellew,  Frank  Henry  Temple,  4, 
207,  212,  214,  215,  266,  269,  272, 
280 

Bellew,  Frank  P.  W.  ("Chip"), 
280 

Bellows,    Albert    F.,    13,    86 

Bennett,  William  James,  84,  91, 
125,    127,    128 

Bensell,   E.  B.,  219 

Benson,    Frank   W.,   28 

Beraldi,   Henri,  cited,  298 

Berg,  Charles  I.,  306 

Berghaus,    Albert,    215 

Berlett,    150 

Bernstrom,  Victor,  161,  168,  173 

Berryman,   CliflFord  K.,  286,  288 

Best,   E.   S.,   89 

Bewick,  Thomas,  influence  of,  137, 
140,   142 

Bible  illustrations,  in  line-engrav- 
ing, 59,  73-74,  80;  in  wood-en- 
graving, 140,  144,  145,  146,  209 

"  Bibliographer,"   62 

Bibliophile  Society,  Boston,  29, 
105 

Bicknell,   Albion   Harris,  28 

Bicknell,   Frank   Alfred,  28 

Bicknell,  W.  H.  W.,  29,   105,  304 

Bien,   Julius,    192,    193,    196 

Bierstadt,   Albert,   85,   86,    101 

Bigg,   W.,   72 

Billheads,  engraved,  56,  316,  317 

Billings,    A.,    57,    291 

Billings,    Hammatt,    143,   209 

Billings,   Joseph,   62 

Bingham,    G.    C,    117 

Binner,    338 

Biorn,   Emil,    328 

Birch,  Reginald  Bathurst,  226-227, 
327 

Birch,  Thomas,  83 

Birch,  William,  2,  78,  83,  84 

Bird,  Charles,  120 

Bird,  Elisha  Brown,  book-plates, 
305,  308;  posters,  323,  326,  327. 
331 

Bisbee,  280 

Bisbee,  John,  184 

Bisbing,    Henry,    218 

Bishop,  Joseph  B.,  cited,  253,  258 


Bishop,   William    H.,   214 

Bishop    Collection:    Jade,    196 

Bispham,    H.,    206 

Blackwell,  Henry,  cited,  309 

Blada,    V.,    263-264 

"  Blanket   Sheets,"    148,   217 

Blashfield,  Edwin  Howland,  book- 
plates, 306;  card,  341;  illustra- 
tions,   228;    poster,    332 

Blom,   E.   van,   127 

Bloodgood,  Robert  Fanshawe,  16, 
341 

Blum,  Robert  Frederick,  etchings, 
15,  25,  27,  46;  lithograph,  199; 
illustrations,    226,    327 

Blumenschein,  Ernest  Leonard,  237 

Biyth,    Benjamin,    109 

Bobbett,   A.,    145,    146,   147 

Bobbett   &   Hooper,    148 

Bogardus,  James,  94 

Bogert,  J.  A.,  147,  150,  153 

Bolton,  Charles  Knowles,  cited, 
322,  325,  331 

Bona  del,  68 

Bonner,    Capt.   John,    55 

Bonsall,   Miss,   307 

"  Book-Buyer,  The,"  cited,  224, 
225,   228,   309,   311 

Bookhout,  E.,  145 

Book-illustration.     See  Illustration. 

"  Bookman,   The,"   cited,   238 

"  Book-Flate  Booklet,"  301,  305, 
309,    310 

Book-plates,  56,  104,  105,  178, 
chapter   xiv:   291-311 

Booth,   T.   D.,   87 

Borglum,  Gutzon,  sculpture  repro- 
duced,  177 

Boston  views  and  plans,  in  aqua- 
tint, 123,  127,  131;  in  etching, 
7,  39;  in  line-engraving,  52,  55, 
56,  58,  62,  64,  104;  in  mezzo- 
tint,   108 

Boston   Art   Club,    92 

Boston  Etching  Club,  12 

"Boston  Evening  Post,"  carica- 
tures, 244 

"  Boston  Gazette,"  139,  244 

"  Boston    Magazine,"    58,    72 

Boston  Massacre,   62,  63,   243,  244 

Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts. 
See  Museum  of  Fine  Arts. 

"  Boston  News  Letter,"  caricatures, 
244 

Boston   Port  Bill,  241 

"  Boston    Transcript,"    cited,    58 

Bourne,   publisher,  82 


348 


INDEX 


Boutet  de  Monvel,  324 

Bouve,  E.  W.,  195 

Bouvier,    185 

Bowdoin,   W.    G.,   cited,    308 

Bowen,     Abel,     77,     139,     142-143, 

145.    317 
Bowen,  J.  T.,   191 
Bowes,  Joseph,  57,  72 
Bowlend,    George   B.,    269 
Bowles,  J.   M.,   337 
Boyd,   wood-engraver,   148 
Boyd,    Edwin,    76 
Boyd,  John,  77 
Bradish,    A.,    116 
Bradley,    Will    H.,    321,    325,    327, 

328,   329,   331.   333,   338 
Bradley,    William   Aspinwall,    172 
Brady,    daguerreotypes,    188 
Bragdon,  Claude  Fayette,  302,  305, 

323,  328 
Brainerd  (D' Avignon  &  Brainerd), 

188 
Brainerd,  Ira   H.,   309 
Brennan,  Alfred,  book-covers,  339; 

etchings,  17;  pen  drawings,  221, 

226,   227 
Breton,     Jules,     paintings     repro- 
duced,   34 
Bridges,   Fidelia,   341 
Bridges,  Robert,  cited,  224 
Bridgman,        Frederick        Arthur, 

painting  reproduced,  33 
Bridgman,  L.  J.,  220 
Bridport,     Hugh,     2;     lithographs, 

186,    190;    stipple,   77 
Briggs,    V.    H.    and    E.    L.,    cited, 

339 

Brigham,   Clarence  S.,   58 

Brinton,  Christian,  cited,  134,  135, 
202,    237 

British  Museum,  American  book- 
plates  in,    311 

Britton,   James,    178,   318,    332 

Bromley   &   Co.,   263 

Brooklyn,  Scratchers'   Club,   12 

"Brother  Jonathan:  Great  Pic- 
torial Battle  Sheet"   (1847),  217 

Brougham,  John,  267 

Broughton,  Charles,  203,  228,  280 

Brown,    caricaturist,    266 

Brown,  A.  J.,  304,  306 

Brown,   C.  J.,  215 

Brown,   E.,   206 

Brown,    Frank   Chouteau,   306,   308 

Brown,  George  Loring,  5,  7,  10, 
97,   100,   143 

Brown,  H.  C,  305,  326 


Brown,   John   George,   199 

Brown,  M.  E.  D.,  187-188 

Browne,  Hablot  Knight  ("Phiz"), 
imitated,  4,   207 

Brueckner,   194 

Bruls,  M.   G.   de,   55,  291 

Brunner,   Arnold  W.,  306 

Brunton,  Richard,  62,  291 

Bry,   T.    de,    51 

"Bubble,  The,"   267 

Buechner,  G.  J.,  i68 

Buell,  Abel,   55,  62 

Buffalo  Society  of  Artists,  307 

Bufford,   J.   H.,   185,   i88,   189,   319 

Bull,   M.,   292,   294 

Bunker  Hill,  Battle  of,  3,  63,  64 

Bunner,   Andrew   Fisher,  28 

Bunner,  H.  C,  cited,  208,  224, 
275.    320,    324,    330 

Burgis,  William,  55,  56,  108 

Burne-Jones,  E,,  paintings  repro- 
duced, 163 

Burnet,    John,    123 

Burney,  81 

Burns,  J.  F.,  135 

Burns,  Michael  J.,  28,  225 

Burr,  Frederick  M.,  cited,  142 

Burr,   George   Elbert,  47 

Burt,   Alice,   cited,   88 

Burt,  Charles,  79,  88,  89,  90,  92, 
97.   106 

Burton    (Burton  &  Edmunds),  95 

Burton,  C,   82,  98 

Burton,  C.  W.,  185 

Bush,  Charles  G.,  219,  283,  284, 
287-288 

Bush-Brown,  Mrs.  H.  K.,  22 

Butler  &  Long,  126 

"Butterfly,   The,"    178 

Buttre,  John  Chester,  102,  103,  118 

Buxton,   55,   69 

C,  caricaturist,  254 
C,  E.,  caricaturist,  256 
C,  E.  W.    See  Clay,  E.  W. 
Cadart,  A.,  publisher,  7,  8,  lo 
Calahan,  James  J.,  17,  27 
Calhoun   Co.,   318 
Calico  printing,   53,   140 
California  Book-Plate  Society,  309, 

310 
"California    Book-Platcs,"    309 
California    State   Library,   310 
Caliga,  Isaac   Henry,   341 
Callender,  Joseph,  57,  72,  316,  317; 

book-plates,  291,  292,  294 
Calyo,   Nicolino,   127 


INDEX 


349 


Campbell,  R.,  8i 

Canot,   52 

Canova,   i86 

Cards,  business,  i,  56,  57,  79,  80, 
140,  196,  316,  317,^340;  holiday, 
195,  339-342;  of  invitation,  80, 
104,  342;  visiting,  79.  See  also 
Tickets. 

Caricature,  139,  202,  210,  233, 
chapter  xii,  240-265 ;  the  comic 
paper,  148,  193,  19s,  224,  232, 
chapter  xiii,  266-290;  news- 
papers, 216,  252,  284-290,  333; 
in  aquatint,  125 ;  in  etching,  249, 
250,  251,  253,  263-264;  in  lithog- 
raphy, 193;  in  mezzotint,  in; 
color  in,  279 ;  English  imitated,  4 

"Carl"    (G.  W.  Carleton),  266 

Carleton,   Clifford,   237 

Carleton,  G.  W.,  266,  268 

Carmiencke,    Hermann,    5 

Carolus  Duran,  painting  repro- 
duced, 163 

Carpenter  (Childs  &  Carpenter), 
316 

"  Carpet  Bag,  The,"  268 

Carqueville,   Will,   327.   33i 

Carter,  Robert  ("Frank  Leslie"). 
See  Leslie,   Frank. 

Carter,  Robert,  cartoonist,  286 

Carter,  Andrews  &  Co.,  142 

Cartoons.     See  Caricature. 

"  Cartoons,"   288 

Carver,   Clifford   N.,  cited,   308 

Cary,    Elizabeth    Luther,    cited,    6, 

165,     222 

Cary,   W.   M.,   218 

Casilear,   John  W.,   85,   97 

Casilear,  Durand,  Burton  &  Ed- 
munds,  95 

Cassatt,  Mary,  etchings,  21,  22,  23, 
132;    lithograph,    202 

Castagnary,   J.   A.,   cited,   8 

Castaigne,   Andre,   228 

Catalogue    covers,    331,    332,    338, 

339 
Catherwood,    F.,    129 
Catlin,   George,   183 
Cauldwell,  Leslie,  135 
Caxton    Club,    Chicago,   6,    310 
Centennial     Exhibition,     Philadel- 
phia   (1876),  etchings   at,  9;   in- 
fluence   of,    340 
Century   Co.,    i6i,    165,   324,   330 
"  Century  Magazine,"  illustrations, 
221,  227;  posters,  324,  326;  cited, 
«53 


Certificates,  engraved,   56,  79,  104, 

123 ;   lithographed,   197 
Chadwick,    Charles    Wesley,    162, 

171 
Chaignon  la  Rose,  Pierre,  309 
Chamberlain,   Francis  T.,   305 
Chambers,  Jay,  305,  308.     See  also 

Triptych,   The. 
Chambers,  Robert  W.,  poster,  325; 

cited,    326,   327,   330 
Champlain,   "  Voyages,"   51 
Champney,  J.   Wells,  27 
Chandler,  G.  Walter,  45,  46 
Changed    plates,    67-68 
Chapin,  John  R.,  206,  212,  215 
Chapman,  Carlton  T.,   i6 
Chapman,  J.,   67,  71 
Chapman,   John    Gadsby,    etchings, 
4»     S»     6,     7;     illustration,     145, 
146,      209;      works      reproduced, 
100,   127 
Chappel,   Alonzo,   102,   207 
Charles,    William,    caricatures,    4, 
125,     247,     248-250,     251 ;     soft- 
ground  etchings,  2,  81 
Chase,    William   Merritt,   25,    134, 

166 
"  Chautauquan,   The,"  cited,  281 
Cheney,  Ednah  D.,  cited,  100 
Cheney,    John,    93,    100,    190 
Cheney,   Seth   Wells,   91,   100 
Cheney,    Sheldon,   book-plates,   305, 

306 ;   cited,  47,   301,   309 
Cheret,  Jules,  influence  of,  320-321 
"  Chiaroscuro  "      wood  -  engraving 

(tint-blocks),    177,    317 
"Chic,"  277 

"  Chicago    Daily     News,"    carica- 
tures, 286 
Chicago  Society  of  Etchers,  38,  47 
Chicago     "  Tribune,"     caricatures, 

286 
Child  subjects  illustrated,  220 
"  Child's  Paper,"   illustrations,   2i» 
Childs,  Benjamin  F.,  143,  147,  148 
Childs,     Cephas     G.,     book-plates, 
292;  line-engravings,  80,  81,  84; 
lithographs,    182,    187,    190,   252; 
caricatured,  251 ;   Childs  &  Car- 
penter,   316;    Childs    &    Inraan, 
181,    183,    185,    i86,    187;    Childs 
&      Lehman,      194;      Pendleton, 
Kearny  &  Childs,  194 
"Chip"      (F.      P.     W.     Bellew), 

280 
Chippendale    style    in    book-plates, 
56,  29» 


350 


INDEX 


Christmas      cards.        See      Cards, 

Holiday. 
Christy,    Howard    Chandler,    233- 

234.    325 

Chrorao-lithography,  195,  208,  273, 
274 

Church,  Frederic  E.,  paintings  re- 
produced, 85j  86,  90 

Church,  Frederic  Stuart,  carica- 
tures, 272,  283 ;  cover  design, 
332;  etchings,  13,  14,  17,  27; 
illustrations,  228 ;  paintings  re- 
produced, 163,  164 

Ciconi,    I.,    134 

Cigar   box   labels,   195 

Cigarette   cards,    195 

Cincinnati  Etchers'  Club,  12 

City  Club,  New  York,  287 

Civil  War,  in  caricature,  193,  251, 
255.  257-264,  268-269,  270,  271 ; 
in  etching,  7 ;  in  illustration  and 
wood-engraving,  148,  149,  217- 
218,  231;  in  lithography,  198, 
211 

Clark,  A.  (Rawdon,  Clark  &  Co.), 
82 

Clark,  Arthur  Wellington,  305,  306 

Clark,  Jonas,   63 

Clark,   Scotson,   321 

Clark,    Walter   Appleton,   237 

Clark,   William,   141,   144 

Clarke,  Thomas,   71,  7^  73 

Claudius,    168 

Clay,  Edward  W.,  251,  253,  256, 
257 

Clay,  John  Cecil,  237,  338 

Claypoole,  James,  Jr.,   56,   57,  103, 

243 
Clements,  Gabrielle  De  Veaux,  22, 

27 
Cleveland   "Plain  Dealer,"  286 
Clinedinst,  Benjamin  West,  228 
Clonney,  James  G.,  87,  183 
Closson,    William    Baxter    Palmer, 

150,    163,    167,    173 
Club  of  Odd  Volumes,  Boston,  300- 

301,  307,  309,  310 
Clute,  Beulah  M.,  307 
Cobb,    Gershom,    295 
Cochin,   C.   N.,  66 
Cochran,  C.  B.,  cited,  321 
Coffin,  Frederick  M.,  211,  212 
Cogswell,   Charlotte  B.,   i6i 
Cole,    109 
Cole,   Miss,  22 
Cole,    J.    Foxcroft,    etchings,    i,    7, 

18,  27;   lithographs,  198,  199 


Cole,  Thomas,  lithograph,  183; 
paintings  reproduced,  85,  90,  100 

Cole,  Timothy,  152,  154,  157,  165, 
166,   167,    168,   169,   171 

Coleman,   Charles   Caryll,   340 

Col  Iyer,    Vincent,    189 

Colman,  Samuel,  14,  19,  27,  29, 
208,   340 

Colon,  J.   H.,   185 

Colonial  Society  of  America,  29 

Color,  in  aquatints,  122,  125,  126, 
127,  128,  130,  132;  in  etchings, 
21,  45,  47,  132;  in  line-engrav- 
ings, 56,  62,  63,  78 ;  in  litho- 
graphs, 185,  193,  19s,  196,  273- 
274,  279;  in  mezzotints,  no, 
119,  120;  in  monotypes,  134, 
13s;  in  posters.  See  Posters 
(practically  all  references  to 
posters  indicate  color-work)  ;  in 
wood-engraving,    148,    167,    173, 

174,   175.  177.  317 
Coloring,     print,     56,    62,    63,    78, 

191,    195 
Columbia  Bank-Note  Co.,  94 
Columbia      University,     book-plate 

collection,    311 
"  Columbian    Magazine,"    72,    98 
Comic      papers,      "  Comics."       See 

Caricature. 
Comins,  Lizbeth  B.,  341 
Comstock,  Anna  Botsford,   161 
Concord,  Engagement  at,  63 
Cone,   Joseph,   77,   103 
Confederate   caricatures,   263-264 
Confederate    publications,    215-216, 

219 
Congdon,  Thomas  Raphael,  47 
Congressional    Library,    168 
Connecticut    League    of    Art    Stu- 
dents,   178,    332 
Conny,    or    Cony,   John,    53,    54 
Cooke,    R.,    184 
Cooper,   F.   G.,   335 
Cooper,  Frederic  Taber,  cited,  277, 

287 
Cooper   Institute,   New   York   City, 

161 
Copeland,    Charles,    228 
Copley,  John   Singleton,   108 
Corbould,    Henry,    81, 
Cornwallis,    Surrender    of,    64 
Corot,    J.    B.    C,    paintings    repro- 
duced,   164,   166 
Corwin,   Charles   A.,   24 
Cory,    Fannie    Young,    325 
"  Cosmopolitan,  The,"  cited,  2x6 


INDEX 


351 


Coultaus,  Henry  C,  217 
Counterfeiting,  61-62,  94 
Covers,    catalogue,    331,    332,    338, 

339;    magazine,    177,    337,    338 
Covey,   Arthur,  47 
Cox,    wood-engraver,    148 
Cox,  J.  Brevoort,  323 
Cox,    Kenyon,    227,    228-229,    326- 

327 
Cox,  Palmer,  214,  279,   325 
Coxe,  Dr.  John  Rodman,  3 
Coxe,  Reginald  Cleveland,  29,  199 
Cozzens,    Frederick    Schiller,    225, 

269 
Craig,   W.   M., 
Cranston,  wood-engraver,   151 
Crawford,   Will,  275 
Crawley,   John,   Jr.,   184 
Crehen,    Charles    G.,    189 
Cremona,    T.,    134 
"  Criblee  "  manner,   141 
"  Critic,   The,"   cited,   281 
Croome,    William,    96,    143,    206, 

209 
Cross,  E  J.,  305 
Cruikshank,  George,  imitated,  4,  5, 

207,   251 
Cruset,   S.,    331 
"  Curio,  The,"  cited,  32 
Curran,   Charles   Courtney,  28 
Curran,  Mary  Eleanor,   305 
Currier,   Nathaniel,   193 
Currier  &  Ives,  191,  193,  253,  255, 

258,   261,   283 
Curtis,   Jessie,   219 
Cusachs,    Caspar,    189 
Cusachs,   Philip   G.,   216 
Cushing,   Otho,   280 
Cyclopedias.     See  Encyclopedias. 

D.,   H.     See  Dawkins,   Henry. 

"  Daily   Graphic,"   216,   271,   274 

Daingerfield,   Elliott,   27 

Dakin,   T-   H.,   82 

Dallas,  Jacob  A.,  206,  211,  212, 
215,  266 

Dalrymple,   L.,   274 

Danforth,  Mosely  Isaac,  82,  91, 
92,   100 

Danforth,  Perkins  &  Co.,  95 

Daniels,  John   H.,  printer,   9,  62 

Darley,  Felix  Octavius  Carr, 
bank-note  vignettes,  96;  illus- 
trations, 147,  207,  208,  209-211, 
212,  214,  219;  designs  repro- 
duced in  lithography,  192, — in 
steel-engraving,  89,  loi,  210 


Davenport,   Homer   C,   284 
Davenport,   William   H.,   212 
Davidson,    Henry,    167 
Davidson,   Julian   O.,   225 
Davies,  Arthur  B.,  203 
D'Avignon,  F.,   188 
D'Avignon  &  Brainerd,  i88 
Davis,  Alexander  Jackson,  98,  183 
Davis,   Georgiana   A.,   215 
Davis,  John  Parker,  150,  152,  161, 

162,   164,   168 
Davis,  Theodore  R.,  217 
Davis   &   Spier,   152 
Dawkins,    Henry,    56,    57,    62,    139, 

243,    317;    book-plates,    291,    293 
Day,    Benjamin,    caricatures,    259, 

268;    Ben   Day  process,   217 
Day,    Francis,    228,    326 
Day,   Mahlon,    145 
Dearborn,    Nathaniel,    57,    65,    142, 

292 
Declaration    of    Independence,    64, 

90,   96 
De  Haas,  M.  F.  H.     See  Haas,  M. 

F.  H.  de. 
Delaplaine,   Joseph,   75,   76,   91 
Delessard,  A.,   198 
"  Delineator,   The,"    172 
Del'Orme,   Edward   H.,   161,   170 
DeMar,  John,  286,  288 
Deming,    E.    M.,    228 
Denman,  Herbert,  228 
Dsnslow,    William    Wallace,    321, 

328 
Derby,    Capt.    George    H.    ("John 

Phoenix"),    213 
Derby      Gallery       (Chauncey      L. 

Derby,   New   York   City),   7 
Devereux,    George    Thomas,     143, 

215 
Deville,  H.,  40,  48 
Dewing,  Francis,  53,  55,  140,  291 
Dewing,  Thomas  Wilmer,  341 
Dexter,   Elias,   128 
De    Yonghe,    328 
Diaz  de  la  Pefia,  N.  V.,  paintings 

reproduced,   164 
Dick,    Archibald    L.     (Barnard    & 

Dick),   82 
Dickens,  Charles,  works  illustrated 

by   Americans,   4,    99,    loi,    207, 

209,  210,  219,  283 
Dielman,    Frederick,    34,    227,    340, 

341 
Dies,    bank-note,    94 
Dillayc,    Blanche,    22 
Diplomas,   engraved,   104,  140 


352 


INDEX 


Dixon,  L.  Maynard,  237,  327,  338 
Dixson,    Zella    Allen,    cited,    308, 

309 
Dodge,  Ozias,  41,  202 
Dodson,   Richard   W.,   91,   92 
Doepler,  Carl  Emil,  129,  212,  214 
Dog  collars,    engraved,   53,   79 
Domenichino,    93 
Donahey,  J.   H.,  286 
Doney,  Thomas,   117,  n8 
Donoho,  Ruger,   199 
Doolittle,  Amos,  57,  60,  63,  64,  65, 

71,  74,  80,  104;  book-plates,  291, 

294,  295 ;   caricature,  250 
Door-plates,   engraved,   53,   79 
Dore,    Gustave,    designs    engraved 

by    Americans,    168 
Dorsey,  John  Syng,  292 
Doughty,       Thomas,       lithographs, 

181,    183;    paintings    reproduced, 

85,    100 
Dovy,    Arthur    Wesley,    175,    176, 

337 
Downes,  W.   H.,   cited,  222,   308 
Drake,    Alexander    W.,    155,    165, 

221,   222 
Drake,  William  Henry,  227 
Draper,   John,    83,   95 
Drayton,   J.,    125 
Dry-point,    19,    23 
Dubbs,   J.    H.,   309 
DuCreux,    "  Historiae    Canadensis," 

Duerer,  Albert,  influence  of,  232 

Duggan,    Peter    Paul,    209 

Duncan,    B.,    263 

Dunlap,  William,  etchings,  2,  6; 
design  reproduced,  81;  his  por- 
trait, 119;  cited,  I,  4,  70,  79, 
108,    112,    124,    184 

Duplessis,  Joseph   Sifrede,  66,  92 

Duponchel,   F.,   186 

Durand,  Asher  Brown,  bank-note 
designs,  96;  line-engravings,  57, 
84.  85,  90,  91,  92,  93i  95.  97,  100, 
103,  106;  mezzotint,  113;  his 
paintings  reproduced,  89;  as  a 
painter,   85;    portraits  of,   68,   92 

Durand,  Cyrus,  94 

Durand,   John,   90,    96 

Durand  &  Co.,  95,  103 

Durand,   Perkins   &   Co.,   95 

Duret,  Theodore,   cited,   6 

Durkin,   John,    217 

DuSimitiere,   Pierre   Eugene,  66 

Duval,  P.  S.,  185,  186,  187,  i88, 
19s,    196;    P.    S.    Duval    &    Co., 


194;   P.   S.   Duval   &  Son,   195; 

Lehman  &  Duval,  194 
Duveneck,   Frank,   13,  24,  46,   135; 

his  paintings  reproduced,  156 
Duyckinck,  E.  A.,  102,  142,  207 
Dwight,   M.   E.,   169 

Eames,  Wilberforce,  cited,  55,  138 

Earle,  Ralph,  63 

Eaton,   Charles  H.,  28 

Eaton,    Charles    Warren,    135 

Eaton,  Hugh  M.,  178,  304,  305 

Eaton,  Wyatt,  9 

Eckstein,   John,   77 

Eddy,   Henry  B.,   328 

Edmonds,   Charles,   147,   148 

Edmonds,  Francis  W.,  paintings 
reproduced,  86,  88 

Edmunds,  95 

Edwards,  George  Wharton,  book- 
plates, 301,  305;  covers,  338; 
illustrations,  214,  230;  posters, 
326,   331,   334,  338 

Edwards,   Harry   C,   228 

Edwards,    S.    Arlent,    119-120 

Edwards,   Thomas,   184 

Edwin,   David,   70,   71,   72,   75,   80 

Egbert,    H.,   Jr.,   266 

Eggleston,    Allegra,    220 

Ehninger,  John   Whetton,   192,   208 

Ehrhart,   J.,   274 

Elliot,    215 

Ellis,    George    B.,    100 

Elten,  H.  D.  Kruseman  van.  See 
Kruseman  van  Elten. 

Emerson,  R.   R.,   327 

Emmes,    Thomas,    54 

Emmet,  Rosina.   See  Sherwood,  R.  E. 

Emmet,  Thomas  Addis,  102 

"  Emporium  of  Arts  and  Sciences," 

3,  75        . 
Encyclopedias     illustrated,     2,     74, 

80,  81 
Endicott  &  Co.,   184 
Endicott   &   Swett,   184,    194 
English    influence,    in    book-plates, 
292-293 ;    in    caricature,    4,    249, 
251,  274;   in   illustration,   5,  207, 
221 ;     in     wood-engraving,     146, 

Engraving,  Line  (copper  and 
steel),  36,  III,  122,  124;  i8th 
century,  chapter  iii,  51-74;  19th 
century,  chapter  iv,  75-106,  118, 
128,  129;  crude  tools  of  early 
engravers,  92-93 ;  mechanical  de- 
vices,   96;    in   combination   with 


INDEX 


353 


etching,  3,  4,  90,  91, — with  stip- 
ple-engraving, 78 ;  influence  on 
wood-engraving,  142,  145,  146, 
150,  209;  colored,  56,  62,  63,  78; 
used  for  book-plates,  291-295, 
299,  302,  ^04.. — for  illustration. 
CA^.|.  72-7J..  80-82.  97-IQ2.  101I 
^gS^aa6;  as  a  "painter-art, 
105.  See  also  Bank-note  engrav- 
ing;   "Mixed   manner." 

Engraving  on  wood.  See  Wood 
engraving. 

Envelopes,    Civil   War,   259 

Estes  &  Lauriat,  9 

Etching,  III,  119,  121,  chapter  i, 
1-37,  chapter  ii,  38-50  (painter- 
etching  is  emphasized  throughout 
these  chapters;  reproductive  etch- 
ing, 3.  17-18,  19,  31-35.  .132) ; 
as  a  basis  for  line-engraving,  3, 
4»  90,  91;  aids  (roulette,  aqua- 
tint, etc.),  20,  21,  133;  color  in, 
21,  45,  47,  132,  250;  on  glass, 
3;  soft-ground,  2,  21,  41,  45, 
47,  81,  132;  used  for  book-plates, 
302,  304,  305, — in  caricature,  249, 
250,  251,  253,  263-264, — for  il- 
lustration,  3,   5,  29,  207 

Etching  classes,    12,   13,   38,  41 

Etching  Clubs.  See  Boston  Etch- 
ing Club;  Cincinnati  Etchers' 
Club;  New  York  Etching  Club; 
Philadelphia  Society  of  Etchers; 
Scratchers'    Club,    Brooklyn. 

European  influence,  58.  See  also 
English  influence;  French  influ- 
ence. 

Evans,  Joe,   306 

Evans,  John  W.,  161 

Evans,  William  T.,   166,   169 

"  Evening  Mail,"  New  York,  cari- 
catures,  285 

"  Evening  Post,"  New  York,  cari- 
catures, 248,  286;  cited,  136,  285, 
286-287,    313,   341 

"  Evening  Telegram,"  New  York, 
caricatures,  284 

"Every    Saturday,"   219 

Exilious,   John,   80,   84 

"  Ex-Libran,"    309 

"  Ex-Libris,"    306,    309,    322 

Ex-libris.     See  Book-plates. 

Extra-illustrating,    loi 

Eytinge,  Sol,  Jr.,  215,  219,  283 

F.,   G.   F.,  266 
Faber,  Herman,  13,  29 


Fabronius,  D.,   188 
Fagan,  James,   17,   29,   34 
Fairchild,  wood-engraver,   144 
Fairraan,    Gideon,    80,    81,    83,    91, 

93.  95.  295 
Fairmount    Park    Art    Association, 

Philadelphia,    10 
"Fakes,"    68,    139,    217 
Falconer,  J.   M.,    i,   7,   13 
"  Family    Magazine,"    206 
Fanning,   J.    B.,    78 
Farny,     Henry     F.,     etchings,     12; 

pen  drawings,  221,  227;  posters, 

320 
Farrand,   Charles   D.,   332 
Farrer,   Henry,  etchings,  8,   10,   13, 

16,   27;   soft-ground   etchings,  21 
Fasel,   George  W.,   186 
"  Father      Abraham's      Almanac," 

139 
Fawcett,  W.  W.,  334 
Federal   Hall,  New  York,  64 
Female    artists.      See    Women    ar- 
tists. 
Fenderich,    Charles,    188 
Fenn,   Harry,   151,  218 
Fenner   &   Sears,   82 
Fenollosa,    Ernest   F.,    cited,    175 
Ferris,  Jean  Leon   Gerome,  27 
Ferris,    Stephen   J.,    8,    10,    13,    21, 

.27,    32-33 
Field,  Edward  Loyal,  28 
Field,    Robert,    72 
Fielding,    Mantle,   71 
"  Fifth   Avenue   Journal,"   272 
Filmer,  John,   150 
Fincham,    Henry    W.,   cited,    308 
Fincken,  James   H.,  299,   304,   306 
Fisher,   A.,    128 
Fisher,    William   Edgar,    300,    301, 

305 
Fiske,   W.,  268,  269 
Flagg,    James     Montgomery,    233, 

276,  280 
Flameng,   Leopold,   33 
Flohri,    276 

Flower-pieces,  in  mezzotint,  120 
Fluoric    acid    used    in    etching    on 

glass,   3 
Fogarty,    Thomas,   237 
Folingsby,  266 
Foote,    Mary    Hallock,    214,    219, 

220 
Forain,    Jean    Louis,    influence    of, 

337 
Forbes,    Edwin,    i,    7,    9,    lo,    3i8 
Forbes  Co.,   196,  319,  320 


354 


INDEX 


Ford,  Paul  Leicester,  cited,  72,  92, 

243 

"  Foreign    Serai-Monthly,"    115 

"Forester,  Frank"  (H.  W.  Her- 
bert),  213 

Forrest,   Ion  B.,   77 

Forster    (Kimmel   &   Forster),    191 

Fortuny,  influence  of,  25,  226; 
paintings  reproduced,  32 

Fossette,   H.,   82 

Foster,  John,  138 

Foul   biting,   133 

Fourdrinier,   P.,   53 

Fowler,   Frank,  33 

Fox,  F.,  388 

Fox,    Gilbert,   2 

Fraraing   prints,    87,    88,    147,   211 

Francis,   J.   G.,   272 

"Frank  Leslie's  Weekly."  See 
Leslie,  Frank. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  as  a  carica- 
turist, 139,  243-244;  portraits  of, 
30,  66,  67,  68,  70,  78,  89,  90, 
109,   no,   in 

Franklin  Institute,  181 

Franks,  Sir  Augustus  Wollaston, 
311 

Franquinet,  W.,  6 

Fraser,   C,   126 

Fraser,   W.   Lewis,   222 

Fredericks,  Alfred,  221,  227,  340, 
341 

"  Freeman's  Journal,"    59 

Freer,   Frederick   W.,   17,   27,  341 

French,  Edwin  Davis,  105 ;  book- 
plates, 104,  299,  300,  303,  304, 
306,  308,   309,   310 

French,  Frank,  i6i,  171,  173,  214 

French  influence,  in  etching,  7,  8; 
in  lithography,  186;  in  posters, 
320-321,  337 

Frenzeny,  Paul,   219 

Fritsch,   F.   J.,    185 

Frizzell,   S.   S.,    197 

Frost,  Arthur  Burdett,  caricatures, 
216,  271,  282,  283 ;  illustrations, 
224-225 

Frost,  Mrs.  Marguerite  Scribner, 
308 

Fuller,    George,    150,    163-164 

"  Fun,"    London,    271 

Furnass,  J.   M.,  291 

G.,    N.,    designer,    64 
Gade,  John  A.,  cited,  293 
Galland,   John,   71 
Gallaudet,  Edward,  87,  100 


Gallaudet,  Elisha,  57,  291,  294 

Gardner,  Miles  C,  327 

Garner  ay,    129 

Garrett,  Edmund  Henry,  book- 
plates, 300,  301,  304,  308;  etch- 
ings, 12,  27;  illustrations,  227; 
posters,    327 

Gaugengigl,  Ignaz  Marcel,  card, 
341;  etchings,  17,  27;  paintings 
reproduced,   159 

Gaul,   Gilbert,   225 

Gavit,  John  E.,   126 

Gay,  Henry  B.,  6 

"  Gazette    des    Beaux-Arts,"    cited, 

25 
Gerrymander,   246 
Getchell,   Edith   Loring  Pierce,   15, 

22,  48 
Gibbons,    Lucy,    219 
Gibbs,    George,    214,    306 
Gibson,     Charles     Dana,     232-233, 

279;    posters,    325,    331 
Gibson,    William    Hamilton,    163, 

214,  225,  228 
Gies    &    Co.,    335 
Gifford,    R.    Swain,    218;    etchings, 

10,    13,    14,    19,    27;    his    paint- 
ings  reproduced,    164 
Gifford,   Sandford  R.,  85 
"  Gift   books,"    99-100 
Gihon,   G.  H.,   305 
Gilbert,    wood-engraver,    144 
Gilbert,  C.  Allan,  237 
Gilbert,    Sir    John,    148;    influence 

of,    221 
Gildemeister,    Charles,    185-186 
Gillara,  Alfred,  279 
Gillam,   F.   Victor,   274,   276,   278 
Gillam,  T.  Bernard,  274,  276,  277, 

278 
Gillray,   James,   241 ;    influence   of, 

249,   251 
Gimber,   Stephen   H.,   82,   127,   128 

190 
Gimbrede,    J.    N.,   77 
Girabrede,  Thomas,  75,  77 
Girsch,    F.,    103 
Girardet,  P.,  129 
Glackens,   L.   M.,   275 
Glackens,     William     J.,     42,     203, 

220,  237 
Glasgow,  David,  191 
Glass,  J.  W.,  90 
Glass,    etching   on,    3 
Gleason,   Charles  K.,  47 
"  Gleason's   Pictorial,"  215 
Glennie,  84 


INDEX 


355 


Glenny,  Alice  R.,  328 

Goater,  John  H.,  215,  257,  268 

Gobrecht,    Christian,   77,   80 

"  Godey's    Lady's    Book,"    98,    196, 

206 
Godwin,  Abraham,   57,   74,   291 
Goldbeck,  Walter  Dean,  47 
Goodhue,  Bertram   Grosvenor,   331 
Goodman,    Charles    (Goodman    & 

Piggot),   76 
Goodwin,  James  S.,  280 
Gotham  Art  Students,   New  York, 

26-27,   332 
Gottschalk,      Otto      H.      von,      28, 

217 
Gould,    J.    J.,   Jr.,    327 
Gould,  R.  E.,  Co.,  334 
Coupil  &  Co.,  192 
Graetz,  F.,   272,  274 
Graham,    Charles,   227,   316 
Graham,  George,  77,  113 
"  Graham's     Magazine,"     92,     98, 

114,  "S 
Grant,   C.   R.,   34 
Grant,  Gordon  H.,  237,  275 
"Graphic,    Daily."        See    "Daily 

Graphic." 
"Graphic   Arts,   The,"    339 
Graphotype,   261,   268,   273 
Grasset,  Eugene,   324 
Greatorex,   Eliza,   22 
Green,     Elizabeth     Shippen,     220, 

239 
Green,    Samuel    Abbott,    cited,    58, 

108,  138 
Green,  Valentine,   ui 
Greenough,  Walter  C,   339 
Greenwood,  John,   no 
Gregory,  Frank  M.,  17,  27,  227 
Gregson,    Herbert,    308 
Grevedon,      Henri,     influence     of, 

186 
Gribayedoff,  Valerian,  216,  284 
Griffin,   Syd   B.,  274 
Grimm,  Constantin  de,  284 
Grolier   Club,   New   York   City,   6, 

52,  57.  66,  90,  128,  167,  227,  241, 

310,  324 
Grosch,  Oscar,   105,   172 
Gross,  J.,   77 
Grozelier,  Leopold,   189 
"Grundy,   Mrs.,"   268 
Gude,  O.  J.,  Co.,  334 
Guerin,  Jules,  237,  238 
Gunn,  Archie,  323,  336 
Gunn,  Thomas  Butler,  213,  266 
Guy,  Seymour  Joseph,  34,  197 


Haas,  M.  F.  H.  de,  etchings,  16, 
27 ;   painting  reproduced,   97 

Haden,  Sir  Francis  Seymour,  lec- 
tures in  the  United  States,  13; 
etchings  copied,   35;   cited,  25 

Haid,  J.   C,  67 

Haider,   M.,  i6i 

Haines,  D.,  80,  315 

Haines,   W.,   77 

Half-tone  process,  37,  171,  172, 
216,  217,  229,  230 

Hall,  Henry  Bryan,  30,  68,  102; 
lithographs,   191 

Hall,  John  H.,  142 

Halliwell,   150 

Hallock,  Mary  A.  See  Foote,  Mary 
Hallock. 

Hallowell,  Miss,  307 

Halm,  George  R.,  28,  305 

Halpin,   Frederick,    68,    79 

Hals,  Frans,  paintings  reproduced, 
33,   109,   119,  .164,   166 

Halsey,  Frederick  Robert,  cited, 
120 

Halsey,  R.  T.  Haines,  53,  131, 
240,  241 

Hambidge,  Jay,  237 

Hamerton,  Philip  Gilbert,  cited, 
15,  26 

Hamilton,  Grant  E.,  271,  276,  278, 
284 

Hamilton,  Hamilton,  27,  34 

Hamilton,  James,  101,  206 

Hamlin,  William,  aquatints,  124; 
book-plates,  292 ;  line-engrav- 
ipgs,  57.  75.  80,  316;  mezzo- 
tints,   IIO-III 

Hardie,   Martin,   cited,   44 

Harding,  Charlotte,  220 

Harding,  Chester,  paintings  repro- 
duced,  183 

Hardtmuth,    i86 

Harley,  150 

Harlow,   Louis  K.,  28 

Harper,  William  St.  John,  27, 
230,   341 

Harper     Brothers,     Family     Bible, 
144,   145,   146,  209 ;   influence  on 
illustcation,    14.7,    192.    214.   2iy;^ 
posters,   324,   330;    vVUUlI-eiTgrav- 
ings,   167 

"  Harper's  Magazine,"  covers  and 
posters,  312,  329,  330;  illustra- 
tions, 40,  212-213;  cited,  208, 
224 

"  Harper's  Popular  Cyclopedia  of 
United  States  History,"  cited,  248 


3S6 


INDEX 


"  Harper's  Weekly,"  cartoons,  272, 
274,  282, — by  Nast,  260,  269-270, 
271;  illustrations,  215;  wood- 
engravings,   154;   cited,  221,  223 

Harral,  Alfred,   151 

Harris,  I.,  55 

Harris,   Samuel,   7,  292,  295 

Harrison,   William,  Jr.,  72 

Hart,  Charles  Henry,  cited,  1,  58, 
64,  66,  67,  70,  102,  109,  113 

Hart,   James  M.,   85 

Hart,    Thomas,    iii 

Hart,  William,   85,   147 

Hartgers   view  of   New  York,   52 

Haskell,  Ernest,  covers,  339;  etch- 
ings, 47,  48;  lithographs,  194, 
202-203;  monotypes,  135;  post- 
ers,   327,    328,    336 

Hassam,  Childe,  228,  230 

Hassmann,   Carl,  275 

Hatch,   George  W.,  82,  95,  100 

Havell,   Robert,    128-129 

Hawthorne,    Julian,    cited,    229 

Hayes,   wood-engraver,   147,   150 

Hayward,   George,   194 

Healy,  George  Peter  Alexander, 
92 

Hearn,    George   A.,    i66 

Heath,    Charles,   95 

Heath,  J.,  76 

Heine,  W.,  129,  192 

Heinemann,  Ernst,  164,  171 

Heliotype,   37 

Helleu,   Paul,   influence  of,   39,  42 

Helmick,  H.,  268 

Hennessy,  William  J.,  219 

Herbert,  Henry  William  ("Frank 
Forester"),  213 

Herford,   Oliver,  236,   279,   325 

Herkomer,   Hubert  von,   134 

Herrick,  Henry  W.,  145,  147,  148, 
213 

Herring,  James,  76,  78,  91,  102 

Hess,   Emma  Kipling,   306 

Hewitt,    84 

Hiatt,   Charles,  cited,   321 

Hicks,  Thomas,   n8 

Higbee,  William  Troyon,  cited, 
331 

Higgins,  Eugene,  47 

Hildeburn,    C.   R.,   cited,   243 

Hill,   J.,   illustrator,   218 

Hill,  John,   84,   125,   126,   127 

Hill,  John  Henry,  14,  19,  121,  125, 
131 

Hill,  John  William,  19,  125,  127, 
129,   184 


Hill,    Samuel,   72,   83,   292 
Hiller,  Joseph,  Jr.,   i 
Himely,   Sigmund,   129 
Kingston,   317 
Hinsdale,   212 
Hinshaw,    Glenn,    203 
Hinshelwood,  Robert,  4,  85,  86,  87, 

89.    97.   99.    loi,    103 
Hitchcock,    De   Witt    C,    148,   212, 

215,  267 
Hitchcock,  J.  Ripley  W.,  cited,   i, 

4,  9,  10,  II,  14,  27,  36 
Hitchcock,  Lucius  Wolcott,  237 
Hoas,  P.,  185 
Hoen,  A.,  &  Co.,  320 
Hoffy,  A.,  185 
Hogan,  Thomas,  218 
Holcomb,   266 
Holden,  E.  B.,  sale,  iii,  124,  127, 

245 
Hollyer,   Samuel,   29,  30,   loi,   304 
Holme,   Charles,  cited,   16 
Homer,  Winslow,  book-plates,  306; 

etchings,    17;    illustrations,    219; 

lithographs,    197,    198,    199;    his 

paintings    reproduced,    33 
Homer-Lee  Bank-Note  Co.,  95 
Hood,  Thomas,  cited,  22 
Hoogland,  William,  92,  184 
Hooper,  Mrs.   Annie,   307 
Hooper,      Edward       (Bobbett      & 

Hooper),   148 
Hooper,  Will  P.,  325 
Hopkins,  George  E.,  24 
Hopkins,  Livingston,  213,  272 
Hoppin,    Augustus,    147,    213,   214, 

215;   caricatures,  266,  269 
Hoppin,  Thomas  F.,  5 
Hopson,  William  Fowler,  105,  132, 

178;    book-plates,    104,    300,   303, 

305-306 
Horgan,  S.  H.,  216,  284 
Hornby,      Lester    G.,      44-45,     48, 

132 
Horner,  T.,    126 
Horton,    144 
Hoskin,  Robert,   151 
Houdon,    Jean    Antoine,    sculpture 

reproduced,   no 
Hough,    260 

Houghton,  MifBin  &  Co.,  168,  207 
"Hour,   The,"   272 
Houston,    H.,    72 
Hovenden,    Thomas,    etchings,    17- 

18,  34;  paintings  reproduced,  34, 

169 
Howard,   Charles  M.,   327 


INDEX 


357 


Howard,  Justin  H.,  212,  263,  266, 

269 
Howarth,   F.    M.,   280 
Howdell,    52 
Howe,    E.    R.    J.    Gambler,    cited, 

3" 
Howell,  215 

Howland,   W.,   145,    14.8 
Hows,   John   A.,  218 
Hubard,    185 

Hubbard,   Elbert,  cited,   322 
Hubbard,   Rev.  W.,    138 
Huber,   Konrad,    192 
Hudson,    Frederic,   cited,   254,   270, 

272-273,  288 
Hudson    River   Portfolio,    123,    126 
"  Hudson  River   School,"  85 
Humphrey,    Lizbeth    B.,    220,    340, 

341 

Humphreys,  Maud,  220 

Huneker,  James  Gibbon,  cited,  20, 
21,  45,  166,  168 

Hunt,  Leigh,  etcher,  29 

Hunt,   Richard   M.,  340 

Hunt,   Samuel    Valentine,   86 

Hunt,  William  Morris,  litho- 
graphs, 197-198;  paintings  re- 
produced,  33,   97,   197 

Hunter,   F.  Leo,  28 

Huntington,  Daniel,  paintings  re- 
produced, 33,  85,  89,  90,  97, 
117 

Hurd,  Nathaniel,  57,  103,  109, 
243 ;  book-plates,  291,  292 ;  por- 
trait of,   108 

Hurley,  Edward  Timothy,  41, 
48 

Hutchins,  F.  M.,  320 

Hutt,   Henry,  234,   338 

Hyde,    Helen,   47,    131-132,    176 

Hyde,    William    Henry,    279 

Hyneman,  Herman  N.,  17 

Iconographic  Society  (Boston),  104 

Iconophiles,  Society  of  (New 
York),  52,  104,  131,  135,  171, 
200 

Illman,   Thomas,   ii8 

"  Hlustrated  American  News,"  215, 
316 

"  Illustrated  News,"  215 

Hlustration,  chapter  xi,  205-239; 
in  aquatint,  122,  123,  127;  in 
etching,  3,  5,  29,  207;  in  line-en- 
graving, 54,  64,  72-74,  80-82,  97- 
102,  105,  205,  206;  in  lithog- 
raphy, 192,   193,  208;   in  mezzo- 


tint, 114-116,  206;  in  stipple,  75- 

77,      82;      in      wood-engraving, 

chapters  vii-ix. 
Imbert,  Anthony,  83,  182,  183,  185, 

186,  190,  253 
"Impartial   History,"   59 
Impressionism      in      etching,      15, 

Indian   portraits,   112,  194 

Indian  subjects,  192,  194,  '208,  226, 

227 
Ink,   in  mezzotints,   117 
"  Inland  Printer,"  cited,  284 
Inman,    Henry,    lithographs,    181, 
182,    183,   187;    his   paintings   re- 
produced,   81,    84,    87,    115,    127, 
185,    186 
Inness,  George,  etching,  13;  paint- 
ing  reproduced,   198 
Intaglio  &   Graphotype  Co.,   261 
"  International    Monthly,"    212 
"  International    Studio,"    cited,    41, 

313 
Ipsen,  Ludwig  Sandoe,  305 
Irwin,  Wallace,   cited,   289 
Isham,  Samuel,  cited,  70,  113,  231, 

232 
Ivanowski,    Sigismund    de,    336 
Ives,    James    M.,    258.      See    also 

Currier  &  Ives. 

Jaccaci,  August  F.,  214,   306 

Jackson,   John   Edwin,   237 

Jacobs,    William    L.,    237 

Jacobsen,   T.   Arthur,   335 

Jacque,  Charles,  paintings  re- 
produced,  33 

James,  Henry,  cited,  221,  223 

Japanese  influence,  132,  174,  176, 
326 

Jaques,  Mrs.  Bertha  E.,  47,  306, 
340 

Jarvis,  John  Wesley,  caricature, 
248;  engravings,  70,  112;  paint- 
ing   reproduced,    71 

Jefferson,   Joseph,    134 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  portraits  of, 
30,  66,  no 

Jenkins,   Will,   cited,   i6 

Jennys,   Richard,    108-109 

Jerome,   Irene   E.,   220 

Jewett,    William,    103 

Jocelyn,  wood-engraver,  147 ;  Joce- 
lyn  &  Annin,  148 

Jocelyn,    Nathaniel,    85 

"  John   Donkey,"  267 

Johnson,   David,  85 


358 


INDEX 


Johnson,  Eastman,  as  lithographer, 
198;    his    paintings    reproduced, 

34 
Johnson,  Thomas,  book-plate,  304; 
etchings,   30,    171;   wood-engrav- 
ings,   162 
Johnson,  Thomas,   of   London,   io8 
Johnson,     William     Martin,     229, 

338 

Johnson,   Fry   &   Co.,   207 

Johnston,  David  Claypoole,  cari- 
catures, 4,  251,  253 ;  etchings,  2, 
6;  illustrations,  209;  lithographs, 

'83 
Johnston,  Elizabeth  B.,  cited,  66 
Johnston,  Thomas,  55,  57,  108,  291 
"  Jolly  Joker,"  268 
Jones,   Alfred,   88,   89,   90,   91,   96, 

97.    106 
Jones,   Benjamin,    57 
Jones,  E.,   185 
Jones,   Hugh  Bolton,   28 
Jones,    John    Paul,    112 
Jones,  W.   R.,   76,   77,   78 
Jongers,     Alphonse,     painting    re- 
produced, 166 
Jordan,    William.      See    Triptych, 

The. 
Joste,  Robert,  317 
"Journal,"  New  York,  caricatures, 

285 
"Judge,"  193,  276,  277,  279 
Juengling,   Frank,   161 
Juengling,  Frederick,  152,  154,  155, 

156,  158,  159,  161,  162,  168,  169, 

221 
Julien,  S.,  influence  of,  189 

Kappes,  Alfred,  219 

Karst,  John,   144 

Kearny,  Francis,  aquatints,  124; 
book-plates,  292,  295 ;  etchings, 
2 ;  line-engravings,  83,  95 ;  litho- 
graphs, 187,  194 

"  Keepsakes."     See  Annuals. 

Keith,  Dora  Wheeler,  340,  341 

Keller,  Arthur  I.,  203,  236 

Kellogg,    D.    W.,    195 

Kellogg,  E.  B.  &  E.  C,  260 

Kelly,  James  Edward,  154,  155, 
221,  306 

Kelly,   Thomas,   91,   92 

Kelly,   W.,    185 

Kemble,  Edward  Windsor,  carica- 
tures, 216,  239,  271,  279,  282; 
illustrations,  225,  228;  poster, 
325 


Kemble,  Fanny,  127 

Kendall,    Sergeant,    327 

Kendrick,   Charles,  277,  279 

Kennedy,  Edward  G.,  cited,  6 

Kennedy  &  Lucas,  194 

Kensctt,  John  F.,   85,  86 

Keppler,  Joseph,  197,  271,  272, 
273.  274,  275-276,  277 

Keppler,  Joseph,  the  younger,  275, 
276 

Ketten,  Maurice,  288 

Kidder,    J.,    123 

Kilburn,   S.   S.,    143,    150,   161 

Kimball,    Katherine,    47 

Kimmel  &  Co.,  126 

Kimmel  &  Forster,  191 

King,   C.  B.,  47 

King,  Francis  Scott,  etching,  30; 
line-engraving,  104,  171;  wood- 
engraving,    163,    i68 

King,  Frank,  327 

King,   James    S.,   27,    33,    120,    132 

King,    Solomon,    publisher,    145 

Kingdon  &  Boyd,  148 

Kingsley,  Elbridge,  164,  167,  169, 
173 

Kinnersley,    Henry,    145,    147,    148 

Kinneys,  The  (Troy  &  Margaret 
West   Kinney),   237 

Kirby,   Rollin,   285 

Kirby,    Valentine,    305 

Kit-Kat   Club,   342 

Klackner,   C,   publisher,   28,   103 

Klepper,   Max   F.,   336 

Knapp,  Joseph  F.  (Major  & 
Knapp),  318;  (Sarony,  Major  & 
Knapp),  192. 

Knaus,  Ludwig,  paintings  repro- 
duced,  32 

Kneass,  William,   124 

Knickerbocker,  J.,  217 

Knoedler,   publisher,   103 

Koehler,  Sylvester  Rosa,  cited,  7, 
8,  9.  13.  16,  18,  22,  24,  25,  26, 
27,  32,  33.  34,  36,  90,  92,  100, 
134,  146.  151,  152,  IS4.  X58.  159, 
160,  161,  165 

Kollner,  A.,  192 

Koopman,  Augustus,  42,  47,   135 

Koppel,   C,   186 

Kotz,   Daniel,  28 

Kramer,   Peter,   193,   318 

Krimmel,  John  Lewis,   87 

Kruell,  Gustav,  30,  162-163,  '67. 
168 

Kruseman  van  Elten,  Hendrick 
Dirk,  14,  15,  18,  19,  21,  27 


INDEX 


359 


Kuenstlerbund,  Karlsruhe,   313 
Kummer,  J.,    129 
Kuntze,  Edward  J.,   5 

Lacour,  Peter,  64 

"  Ladies'   Companion,"   98 

"Ladies'    National    Magazine,"    98 

"  Ladies'    Repository,"    97,    98 

La  Farge,  John,  153,  220,  340 

Lafayette,  portraits  of,  66,  71,  83, 
109 

Laffan,  William  Mackay,  214 

Lamb,    Charles   Rollinson,   306 

Lamb,   Ella    Condie,   334 

Lambdin,  J.  R.,   183 

Lander,   Benjamin,   12,    19 

Landscape,  in  aquatint,  123,  125, 
126,  129,  130,  132;  etching,  8,  9, 
15,  1 6,  18,  19,  25, '40,  41,  42,  46; 
line-engraving,  84-86,  90,  100, 
129;  lithography,  129,  184,  190, 
191,  198,  201,  203 ;  mezzotint, 
no,  120,  121;  stipple,  72,  78; 
wood-engraving,  150,  151,  152, 
164,   166,   168,   173,   175,  218 

Lanfil,   Walter    F.,    16 

Langridge,   wood-engraver,   150 

Lansing,   Garret,   142,   317 

"Lantern,   The,"    210,    267 

Lathes,   in  bank-note  work,   94,   96 

Lathrop,   William   Langson,   14 

Latimer,   R.  R.,  cited,   322 

Lauber,    Joseph,    17,    199,    306 

Laurvik,  J.   N.,  cited,  313 

Lawrence,    H.    M.,    326 

Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  paintings 
reproduced,  182;  portrait  of,  115 

Lawson,  Alexander,  2,  80,  82,  83, 
87,    113 

Learned,  Arthur  G.,  42,  327 

Ledyard,  Addie,  219,  272 

Lee,  Homer,  95 

Lee,   T.,   294 

Leech,   John,    influence   of,  42,   207 

Le  Fevre,  W.  J.,   13 

Legros,  Alphonse,  influence  of,  39, 
42 

Lehman,    G.,    128,    185 

Lehman   &  Duval,   187,   194 

Le  Moyne,  Jacques,   51 

Lemperly,   Paul,  cited,   309 

Leney,  William  Satchwell,  71,  76, 
295 

Lenox   Library,    86 

Lesley,   Margaret   W.,   22 

Leslie,  Charles  Robert,  paintings 
reproduced,   90,  92,   100 


Leslie,  Frank  (Robert  Carter),  146, 
149,  215,  218 

"Leslie's  Weekly,"  269,  271,  273, 
282 

Leutze,  Emanuel,  etchings,  5 ; 
paintings  reproduced,  90,  117 

Levering,   Albert,  275 

Levin,   Katherine,   27 

Levis,   Howard    C.,    140-141 

Lewis,  Arthur  Allen,  etchings, 
42;  wood-engravings,  177,  178, 
304 

Lewis,  J.   O.,    194 

Lexington,   Battle   of,   63 

Leyendecker,    Frank   X.,   314 

Leyendecker,  Joseph  Christian,  326, 
.338 

Lichtenstein,  R.  C,  cited,  309 

Liebler,   Theodore,    320 

"Life,"    279-280;    cited,    17 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  portraits  of,  30, 
42,  67,  68,  89,  97,  163,  177,  193; 
in  caricature,  257,  258,  259,  260- 
261,   262,   263,   264;    cited,   260 

Linson,   Corwin  Knapp,   237 

Linton,    Henry,    151 

Linton,  William  James,  151,  152, 
168,  219,  304;  cited,  139,  143, 
144.  145,  146,  147,  150,  152,  156, 
.157,   158,   159,  160,  163,  164,  317 

Lion,  J.,   189 

Lipman,    M.    de,    327 

Lippincott,  William  Henry,  34, 
306 

Lithography,  80,  119,  128,  129, 
chapter  x,  180-204;  in  carica- 
ture, 252-253,  255-257,  258,  259, 
260,  261,  262,  264-265,  273,  274, 
283;  color  in,  185,  193,  195,  196, 
273-274,  279;  in  illustration,  192, 
193,  208;  as  a  "painter-art," 
178,  181,  197-204;  for  posters, 
178,    318-337 

Lithotint,    185 

Livingston,    John,    79 

Locke,  David  R.  ("P.  V.  Nasby"), 
cited,  270 

Loeb,   Louis,   135,   203,   237 

Long   (Butler  &  Long),  126 

Longacre,  James  Barton,  76,  77, 
78,  81,  9t,   102 

"Longfellow  Portfolio"  (wood* 
engravings),    168 

Loomis,    Chester,    334 

Lopez,    194 

Lord,   Caroline,   12 

Lossing,    Benson   John,    cited,    140, 


36o 


INDEX 


142,  143-144.  210.  213.  244,  245, 
248,  250,  317 

Lossing,   Helen  Rosa,  220 
Lossing  &  Barritt,  148,  213 
Lotos  Club,  New  York,  169 
Louisville   "Times,"   288 
Low,  Will  Hicok,   104,  327;  card, 

341;     cover,     332;     illustrations, 

219,  229;  poster,  327 
Lowell,  Orson,  237,  335 
Lucas  (Kennedy  &  Lucas),  194 
Lumley,    Arthur,    215,    217 
Lungren,   Fernand   Harvey,  226 
Lyno  Public  Library,   310 

M.,  J.  L.    (J.  L.  Magee),  261 
Macauley,  Charles  R.,  284,  288 
McCarter,   Henry,   324,   326,   327 
McCarthy,    Daniel,    284 
McCormick,  Howard,  177 
McCutcheon,  John  Tinney,  286 
McDermott,  Jessie,  220 
McDonald,  A.  N.,  304 
McDonough,    215 
McDougall,  Walter  H.,  214,  284 
McEntee,  Jervis,  85 
Mcllhenney,    Charles    Morgan,    28 
MacLaughlan,    Donald    Shaw,    43, 

McLaughlin,  Mary  Louise,  12 
McLenan,  John,  214,  263,  266,  267 
Maclise,    Daniel,   copied,   298 
McMaster,    John   Bach,    cited,    139 
McNevin,  J.,   219 
McRae,    John    C,    n8 
McVickar,  Henry  W.,  279,  331 
Magazine   covers,    177,   337,    338 
Magazine    illustration.     See   Illus- 
tration. 
Magazine    posters,    321,    324,    326- 

327,    328,    329,    330.    337 
Magee,  John  L.,  illustrations,  215, 

266;    lithographs,    193,   261 
Magrath,    William,    paintings    re- 
produced,   161 
Mahogany,   used   In   wood-engrav- 
ing,   317 
Main,  William,  79,  91 
Major,  Richard  (Major  &  Knapp), 
318;     (Sarony    &    Major),    184, 
191.     255;      (Saron}',     Major     & 
Knapp),    192 
Makart,     Hans,     paintings     repro- 
duced,  34 
Mallory,    143,    150 
Manet,    Edouard,    painting    repro- 
duced,  166 


Manley,  Thomas  R.,   16,  41. 

Mansfield,  Howard,  cited,  6,  323- 
324 

Maps  and  plans,  in  line-engrav- 
ing, 55,  65,  69,  73;  in  wood- 
engraving,  138 

Marin,  John,  47 

Marine  subjects,  in  aquatint,  124, 
127;  in  etching,  15,  i6;  in  illus- 
tration, 225;  in  line-engraving, 
97;  in  lithography,  192;  in  mez- 
zotint, m;  in  wood-engraving, 
151,  218 

Marks,  Montague,  199 

Marsh,   Henry,   150,   153,   163 

Marshall,   William  Edgar,   97 

Marsiglia,    Girlando,    183 

Martin,  David,  painting  repro- 
duced,  70,   110 

Martin,  Homer,  painting  repro- 
duced,  166 

Martin,  J.  B.,  190 

Mason,  Abraham  J.,  144 

Mason,  William,  144 

"  Massachusetts      Magazine,"      72, 

83 

Masson,   215 

Mather,  Frank  Jewett,  Jr.,  cited, 
44,    46,    228,    314 

Mather,    Increase,    portrait    of,    54 

Matteson,  T.  H.,  101,  309 

Matthews,  Arthur   F.,   306 

Matthews,    Albert,    cited,    139,   244 

Maurer,  Louis,  caricatures  and 
other  lithographs,  193,  257,  258; 
cited,   318,   320 

Maurice,  Arthur  Bartlett,  cited, 
277,  287 

Mauve,  Anton,  paintings  repro- 
duced, 35 

Maverick,  A.,  79,  126 

Maverick,  Peter,  book-plates,  292; 
etchings,  2 ;  line-engravings,  57, 
79,  80,  81,  83,  91,  98,  103,  104, 
316;  lithographs,  182,  190;  stip- 
ple,  72 

Maverick,  Peter  Rushton,  book- 
plates, 292,  294,  29s ;  line-en- 
gravings, 57,  80,  83,  84;  stipple, 
72 

Maverick,   Samuel,   83 

Mayer,   Ferd.,  &   Sons,   318 

Mayer,  Frank  Blackwell,  198, 
214 

Mayer,    Henry,  285,   306,   327,   336 

Measom,  151 

Megarey,   Henry  I.,   126 


INDEX 


361 


Melville,    Francis,   47 

Menpes,  Mortimer,  cited,  6 

Menus,   103,   342 

"Mercury,"   216 

Merrill,    Frank    Thayer,    12,    227, 

269,   302 
Merrill,   Katherine,  47 
Merritt,   Anna   Lea,   22,   27,   29 
Meryon,   Charles,  influence  of,  39, 

43.   44 

"  Meryon  of  Philadelphia,  The." 
See   Pennell,   Joseph. 

Mesier,  183 

Metcalf,   Willard   Leroy,  228 

Meteyard,   Thomas   Buford,   325 

Methfessel,   338 

Metivet,   Lucien,   324 

Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New 
York,   104,   166 

Metropolitan    Print    Co.,    317 

Metropolitan  Printing   Co.,  336 

Mexican  War,  88,  217;  in  carica- 
ture, 254-255 

Meyner,   Walter,   335 

Mezzotint,  19,  56,  91,  chapter  v, 
107-121 ;  in  caricature,  241 ; 
color,  no,  119,  120;  in  illustra- 
tion,  114-116,   206 

Mezzotint,  Sandpaper,  131,  133 

Middleton,   Stanley,    I2 

Middleton,  Thomas,  3 

Mielatz,  Charles  Frederick  Will- 
iam, aquatints,  130-131,  132,  133; 
book-plate,  304;  etchings,  8, 
16,  20,  21,  27,  41,  48;  litho- 
graphs, 200;  monotypes,  135-136; 
as  printer,  9,  21,  50;  as  teacher, 
38;    cited,    120-121 

Milbert,  J.,   192 

Military  subjects,  in  illustration, 
225,    226 

Millar,    Addison   Thomas,   41,   46- 

47,   132 

Miller,  Dr.  Charles  Henry,  etch- 
ings, 7,  14,  15;  paintings  re- 
produced,  35;   cited,   134 

Miller,   E.   F.,   28 

Miller,  W.  R.,  215 

Miller,  William,  i6i,  171,  304 

Millet,   Francis  Davis,  214 

H.  C.  Miner-Springer  Litho  Co., 
320 

Minneapolis   "Journal,"   286 

Minor,  Robert  C,  etchings,  28 ; 
paintings  reproduced,   35 

Mirall,    271 

Miranda,  Fernando,  216,  271 


Mitchell,  J.,    109 

Mitchell,    John    Ames,    caricatures, 

269,  279-280;  etchings,  17;  cited, 

279,  280,  284 
Mitchell,   Dr.   Samuel  Latham,   180 
"Mixed  manner,"  79,  91,  115,  116, 

118 
Molthrop,      painting      reproduced, 

124 
Momberger,  William,  219 
"  Momus,"   268 
Money,  engraved.     See  Bank-Note 

engraving. 
Monks,  John  Austin  Sands,  14,  18, 

27 
Monotype,    121,    133-136 
Montanus     viev?     of     New     York, 

52 

Montgomery,  56 

Monticelli,  A.,  painting  repro- 
duced,  159 

Moore,   E.   C,   340 

Moore,   Guernsey,   338 

Moore,   T.,   194 

Moores,   326 

Mora,  F.  Luis,  237 

Moran,   Leon,    17,   34,    341 

Moran,  Mary  Nimmo,  13,  15,  20, 
22,  23,  27,  29 

Moran,    Percy,    341 

Moran,    Peter,    10,    13,    14,   15,    i8, 

27.   32-33.   134 

Moran,  Thomas,  card,  341 ;  etch- 
ings, 8,  13,  14,  15,  16,  18,  20, 
27,  34;  illustrations,  151,  153, 
168,  218;  lithographs,  198;  as 
printer,  21 

Moreau,  C.  L.,  140 

Morgan,   Fred,   286 

Morgan,  Matthew  Somerville 
("Matt"),  caricatures,  271; 
posters,   193,    197,   319,   320 

Morgan,  W.  J.,  &  Co.,   194,  320 

Morgan,  William,   142 

Morghen,     Raphael,     influence    of, 

79  . 
Morris,    William,    238 
Morse,   Anna   G.,  340 
Morse,  Joseph  W.,  317 
Morse,  Nathaniel,  57 
Morse,   William   H.,    150,    161 
Morton,   John   Ludlow,    124,   209 
Mottram,    C,    129 
Mount,   William   Sidney,   paintings 

reproduced,    86,    87,    88 
Mount   Holyoke   College,   169 
Mourgeon,  Peter,  1,  316 


362 


INDEX 


Mueller  (Brueckner  &  Mueller), 
194 

Miiller,  Richard  Alexander,  161, 
168 

Mullen,  E.  F.,  213,  214,  267,  268, 
272 

Municipal  Art  Society  of  New 
York,   224 

Munkacsy,  M.,  painting  repro- 
duced,   196 

Murray,   Draper,  Fairman  &   Co., 

83,  95 

Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston,  ex- 
hibition of  etchings  (i88i),  6, 
13,  16,  28, — of  etchings  by  wom- 
en (1887),  22, — of  early  line- 
engravings,  58,  109,  no,  316, — 
others,  100,  167,  168,  175,  279, 
310 

Music  cover,  194 

Music  titles,   57 

Mygatt,   Robertson   K.,   29 

Nagel  &  Weingartner,  186,  189 

Nahl,  A.,  197 

Nankivell,  Frank  A.,  275,  321, 
328,  331,  337 

"Nasby,  Petroleum  V."  (D.  R. 
Locke),  cited,  270 

Nast,  Thomas,  caricatures,  260, 
268,  269-271,  272,  284,  319;  il- 
lustrations, 215,  219;  Lincoln 
cited   in   regard  to,   260 

National  Academy  of  Design,  New 
York,  134,  283;  engravers  mem- 
bers, 91,  142,  144;  etching  class, 
38,  41 ;  etchings  exhibited  at, 
II ;  posters  used,  331,  332 

National  Arts  Club,  New  York, 
310,    313,    334,   335 

National  Gallery,  Washington, 
169 

"  National  Gallery  of  American 
Landscape,"    86 

"  National  Intelligencer,"  cited, 
180 

"  National    Magazine,"    212 

"National  Portrait  Gallery  of 
Distinguished  Americans,"  76, 
78,  91,  102,  207 

Neagle,  John,  paintings  reproduced, 
68,  92,   113,   187 

Neagle,  John  B.,  79,  81,  85,  91, 
100 

Neal,    David    D„    197 

Neale,   John,   printer,    126 

Neale,  William,  printer,  126 


Neely,   J.,  Jr.,   13 

Negro  subjects,  34,  193,  219,  225; 
in  caricature,  256,  259,  261,  262; 
the  negro  figured  also  in  the 
paintings  of  Mount,  Woodville 
and  others,  noted  on  pages  86-88 

Nehlig,   Victor,   7 

Nelan,  Charles,   284 

"  New  Mirror,"   127 

New   Orleans,  Battle  of,  2 

New  York  City,  views,  in  aquatint, 
124,  126,  127,  129,  130,  131;  in 
etching,  7,  8,  10,  20,  21,  22,  29, 
39,  40,  41,  42;  in  line-engrav- 
ing, 52-53,  55,  56,  58,  64,  69,  82, 
83,  84,  97,  1C4,  172;  in  lithog- 
raphy, 182,  183,  184,  185,  186, 
191,  192,  193,  200;  in  mono- 
type,    135;     in    wood-engraving, 

173,    177 

"  New  York  American,"  286 

New  York  Etching  Club,  i,  10,  12, 
13,  21,  22,  28,  29,   35,  41 

"  New  York  Herald,"  caricatures, 
276,  284;  illustrations,  148,  2i6, 
217,   326 

New  York  Historical  Society,  55, 
104,   117 

"New  York  Illustrated  News," 
215,  269 

"  New   York   Magazine,"    72,    83 

"  New  York  Mirror,"  98,  146,  206. 
See  also  "  New  Mirror." 

"  New   York   Press,"  284 

New  York  Public  Library,  collec- 
tion of  book-plates,  310,  311, — 
of  etchings,  11,  15,  26,  27, — of 
line-engravings,  89,  96,  102, — of 
wood-engravings,  140,  149,  167, 
168;  exhibitions  of  New  York 
City  views,  53 ;  Franklin  list,  66 

New  York  "  Recorder,"  284 

"  New  York  Times,"  caricatures, 
285;   cited,  239,  289,   330 

"  New  York  Tribune,"  caricatures, 
285;   cited,   227,   229 

New  York  "World."    See  "World." 

Newark,  N.  J.,  Public  Library, 
169 

Newell,   Peter,   282,    325 

Newsan,  Albert,   186-187 

Newspapers,  illustrated,  148,  216, 
217,  326;  caricatures,  216,  252, 
284-290,   333 

Newton,  Gilbert  Stuart,  painting 
reproduced,    188 

Nichols,  George  Ward,  198 


INDEX 


363 


Nicoll,  James  Craig,  14,  16,  21,  27, 

29 
Niemeyer,  John  Henry,  28 
Noel,  Leon,  88,   189 
Noll,   Arthur   H.,    305,   306 
Norman,    John,    57,    58,    59-60,    63, 

64.   65,   67,   72,   73,  79 
Nourse,   Elizabeth,    12 

Oakes,  William,  191 

Oakford,    Ellen,    22 

Oakley,   Violet,  220 

O'Brien,   Robert,    161 

O'Callaghan,  E.  B.,  cited,  73 

Oertel,   Johannes  Adam,   85,  212 

Ogden,  H.  A.,  193,  225,  320;  cited, 
316 

Okey,    Samuel,    65,    109 

Olsson-Nordfeldt,  Bror  J.,  40,  43, 
48,   176 

O'Neill,  Rose,  220 

Opper,  Frederick  Burr,  272,  274, 
285 

Ormsby,    Waterman   Lilly,    94 

Orr,  John  William,  148 

Orr,    Nathaniel,    148,    150 

Orr  &  Andrews,   148 

Osborne,  Milo,  loi 

Osgood,  Frances  Sargent,  cited,  92 

Osgood,   Harry   Haviland,   40,  43 

Osgood,  James  A.,  publisher,  144, 
150 

Ostertag,  Blanche,  220 

Otis,  Bass,  aquatints,  123 ;  litho- 
graphs, i8p;  mezzotints,  112; 
paintings   r^roduced,    112 

Ottmann,   328 

"  Our   Young   Folks,"   219 

Outcault,   Richard   Felton,   327 

Page,    William,   116 

Paine,   Albert  Bigelow,  cited,   260, 

271 
Palmer,    wood-engraver,    151 
Palmer,  Frances  F.,  191 
Palmer,  F.  &    S.,  191 
Pape,   Eric,  228 
Papprill,   Henry,   129 
Paradise,  John  Wesley,  91 
Parker,  C.  Gray,  279 
Parker,  G.   C,  327 
Parker,  George,  77 
Parrish,     Maxfield,     covers,     338; 

posters,   314,   326,   333;   influence 

of,    329 
Parrish,    Stephen,    13,    15,    16,    18, 

20,  21,  27,  35 


Parsons,  Charles,  lithographs,  191, 

192,  193 ;  as  art  editor,  192,  222 
Parte   sculp,   68 
Parton,  James,  cited,  244,  253 
Pasini,    A.,    paintings    reproduced, 

33 
Pate,   William,    126;    Pate,   W.,   & 

Co.,  86 
Patterson,    F.    B.,    print    publisher, 

10 
Paxton,  William  M.,  327 
Peale,  Charles  Willson,  69,  109 
Peale,   Rembrandt,   118,    181 
Pearson,  Ralph  M.,  47 
Pease,   Bessie,    307 
Pease,  Joseph  Ives,   79,  86,  87,  88, 

124 
Pease,  R.  H.,  194-195 
Peckwell,  Henry  W.,   161 
"  Peintres    Lithographes,    Les,"    202 
Peixotto,  Ernest  C,  135,  237 
Pekenino,   Michele,   68 
Pelham,    Henry,    62 
Pelham,   Peter,    107-108 
Pen-and-ink     drawing,     221,     222- 

224,  225,  226,  227,  232,  233,  234, 

236;   in  caricature,  274,  276;   in 

etching,   25 
Pendleton,     John,     181,     182,     184, 

185,   186,   192,  194 
Pendleton,   W.   S.,   190 
Pendleton,   Kearny   &    Childs,    187, 

194 
Penfield,      Edward,      covers,      312, 

339;    posters,    314,    326,    329-330, 

331.    333 
Penman,    Edith,    34 
Pennell,  Elizabeth  Robins,  cited,  6 
Pennell,  Joseph,  etchings,  8,  13,  15, 

16,  20,  27,  41;  illustrations,  222; 

lithographs,  200,  201 ;  as  printer, 

9,     21,     49;     sandpaper     mezzo- 
tints,   133;    cited,    6,    221,    222, 

226,  227,  228,  232 
Pennimann,  J.  R.,  184,   185 
"  Pennsylvania   Gazette,"  244 
"  Pennsylvania  Journal,"  244 
Pennsylvania     Historical      Society, 

82,    187 
"  Pennsylvania   Magazine,"   57,  72 
Perard,    Victor    Semon,    237,    306, 

326,  338,   339 
Perine,   George  E.,   118 
Perkins,   Charles   C.,   5,   213 
Perkins,  Granville,   151,  21S 
Perkins,    Jacob,    94,    95 
Perkins  &  Co.,  95 


3^4 


INDEX 


Perkins   &  Heath,   95 

Pfau,  Gustavus,  186 

Philadelphia,  in  caricature,  243 ; 
views  in  aquatint,  131, — in 
etching,  2, — in  line-engraving, 
84,  87,  252, — in  lithography,  191, 
195,   196, — in  stipple,  78 

"Philadelphia    Gazette,"   57 

Philadelphia  "  Inquirer,"   286,   326 

Philadelphia   "Press,"    326 

Philadelphia   "Record,"   286 

Philadelphia  Sketch  Club,   13 

Philadelphia  Society  of  Etchers, 
12,   13,   16,  28,   134 

Phiz.     See  Browne,  Hablot  Knight. 

"  Phoenix,  John  "  (George  H.  Der- 
by), 213 

Photographs  re-drawn  for  illustra- 
tion, 227 

Photography  used  directly  for  il- 
lustration, 208;  used  to  place 
design  on  wood-block  for  the 
engraver,  152,  153,  157,  159,  230; 
influence  of,   106,  238 

Photogravure,    37,    135 

Photo-lithography,  216 

Photo-mechanical  processes,  use 
and  influence  of,  37,  io6,  171, 
238;  for  book-plates,  302,  304- 
305 

"Phunny   Phellow,"   268 

Physionotrace,    128 

Piazzoni,    G.,    47 

Picart,  B.,  246 

"  Picayune,"    267 

"Picture   Gallery,"  206 

"Picturesque  America,"  86,  150, 
152,   218 

"Picturesque    Europe,"    152,    218 

"  Picturesque  Palestine,"  2i8 

Pierce,  Edith  Loring.  See  Getch- 
ell,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Pierce. 

Pierce,  H.  Winthrop,  341 

Pigalle,  2 

Piggot,  Robert  (Goodman  &  Pig- 
got),  76 

Pilbrow    (Illman   &  Pilbrow),   ii8 

Pine  wood,  in  wood-engraving, 
for   posters,    317 

"Pittsburgh    Telegraph,"    216 

"Plain   Dealer,"   286 

Plank,  George  Wolfe,  178,  304, 
306 

Plans.     See   Maps. 

Plastic   Club,  Philadelphia,  308 

Plate  printers.     See  Printers. 

Plates,   changed,    67-68 


Plates,    private,    102 

Piatt,  Charles  Adams,  15,  16,  27, 
29 

Players,  The,  267 

Plumb,    Henry    G.,    cited,    318 

Plympton,  W.   E.,   12 

"Polyanthos,  The,"  75,   123 

Politics,  caricature  in,  chapters  xii 
and  xiii;  the  poster  in,  333- 
334 

Pollard,  Percival,  cited,  329 

Poore,    Henry    Rankin,    13 

Pope,  Mrs.  Marion  Holden,  47 

"Porte  Crayon"  (D.  H.  Strother), 
213 

Porter,  Edward  G.,  63 

"Port-Folio,"  Philadelphia,  71, 
75,   84,    123,    124,    141 

Portraiture,  in  aquatint,  123,  124, 
125,  127,  128 ;  in  line-engraving, 
54-55,  58,  59-61,  65-69,  73,  91- 
92,  93,  102,  103,  171,  207;  in 
etching,  3,  29,  30,  42,  119,  171; 
in  illustration,  227;  in  lithog- 
raphy, 119,  181,  183,  184,  185, 
i86,  187,  188,  189,  190,  191,  193, 
197,  202,  203,  251 ;  in  mezzotint, 
106-119;  in  stipple,  69-72,  75-78, 
91,  93,  I02,  251 ;  in  wood-en- 
graving, 68,  139,  141,  162,  163, 
176,  203 

"Poster,  The,"  London,  cited,  321, 
322,   329 

"Poster,  The,"  New  York,  cited, 
322,   333 

Posters,  178,  193,  195,  313,  315, 
317-338;  collectors,  322;  exhibi- 
tions,   322-323 

Pottery,  Staffordshire,  views  on, 
131 

Potthast,  Edward  Henry,  203,  320, 
326 

Poupard,  James,  57,  72,  79 

Poussin,  Nicholas,  drawings  re- 
produced,   3 

Powell,    Caroline  A.,   i6i 

Prang,  Louis,  Prang  &  Co.,  196, 
197,  198,  199;  holiday  cards, 
340-342 

Pranischnikoff,  I.,  219 

Pre-Raphaelites  in  the  United 
States,    184 

Prendergast,    Maurice    Brazil,    325 

Preston,   May   Wilson,  220 

Prevost,  B.   L.,   66 

Price,    William,    publisher,    56 

Prindiville,  Mary  L.,  306 


INDEX 


365 


"  Print  Collector's  Quarterly," 
cited,  46 

Print  dealers  and  publishers,  lo, 
28,  32,  33,  36,  39.  48,  103,  109, 
112 

Printers,  plate,  i,  80,  109,  126,  366 

Printers'    ornaments,    56,    138 

Printing,  of  etchings,  7,  9,  11,  12, 
19,  21-22,  46,  49-50;  of  mezzo- 
tints, 117;  of  wood-engravings, 
146 

"Printing   Art,"    339 

Probst,   John   Michael,   67 

Prud'homme,  John  Francis  Eugene, 
77,  78,  91,  100 

"Puck"  (New  York),  193,  271, 
272,   273-276,   277,   279,   280 

"Puck"    (St.  Louis),   273 

"Punch"  (London),  264;  copied, 
267,    273 

"Punchinello,"    269 

"Punster,  The,"   268 

Purcell,   E.,   215 

Pursell,  Henry,   53 

Putnam,  F.  W.,   161 

Putnam,    G.   P.,   publisher,    147 

Putnam,  Stephen  Greeley,  161,  167, 
171 

"  Putnam's   Magazine,"  cited,   237 

Pyatt,  J.  O.,  187 

Pyle,  Howard,  book-plates,  306; 
caricatures,  272 ;  illustrations, 
231-232,  236;  influence  of,  220 

Quartley,  F.   O.,   151 
Quinlan,  Will  J.,  40 

R.,  H.     See  Reinagle,  Hugh. 
Rajon,  Paul,  9 
"Ram's  Horn,"  281 
Ranger,  Henry  Ward,   199 
Ranney,  William,  86,  87,  88,  89 
Raubichek,    Frank,    34 
Rawdon,   Ralph,   57,   295 
Rawdon,  Clark  &  Co.,  82 
Rawdon,  Wright,  Hatch  &  Smillie, 

95,   100 
Rayner,  R.  J.,  185 
Reade,  Christia  M.,  306 
Redding,    wood-engraver,    148 
Redwood,    Allen    C,    214 
Reed,   Abner,   54,   71,   124 
Reed,    Earl    H.,   47,   48 
Reed,   Ethel,    325,    327,   331 
Reed,  Thomas   C,  cited,  70 
Reevs,   George   M.,    327 
Reich,  Jacques,   30 


Reinagle,   Hugh,    83,    182 

Reinhart,  Charles  Stanley,  carica- 
tures, 271,  283;  etchings,  10;  il- 
lustrations, 154,  222,  223,  327; 
lithographs,   214 

Remarques,  27,   36 

Rembrandt,  etchings  copied,  3 ; 
paintings    reproduced,    33,    120 

Remington,  Frederic,  214,  226, 
228 

Renault,  J.  F.,  64 

"  Repository  of  the  Lives  and  Por- 
traits of  Distinguished  Ameri- 
can Characters,"  76,  91 

Restrikes,   56,  62 

Retroussage,  9 

Reuterdahl,  Henry,  237 

Revere,  Paul,  57,  58,  72,  105;  bill- 
heads, 317;  book-plates,  291; 
cards,  316;  caricatures,  242-243; 
certificates,  56;  portraits,  65,  67, 
79 ;  his  "  Boston  Massacre " 
plate,  62,  63,   104 

"  Review  of  Reviews,"  cited,  272 

Revolutionary  War,  in  caricature, 
240-244;  in  line-engraving,  59, 
60,  61,  62-66;  in  illustration, 
154,  213,  225,  231;  in  mezzotint, 
109,  III-H2;  in  portraiture,  65, 
66-67,  70,  73,  79,   109,  U1-112 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  paintings  re- 
produced,  100,   110,  112 

Rhead,   Frederick,   230 

Rhead,  George  W.,  230 

Rhead,  Louis  J.,  book-plates,  305, 
308;  illustrations,  230;  posters, 
326,   327,   328,   330,   331,   333 

"  Rhode  Island  Literary  Reposi- 
.tory,"  75 

Ribot,  Theodule,  painting  repro- 
duced,  164 

Rice,  Richard  A.,  cited,  15 

Richards,  John  H.,   195 

Richards,  Thomas  Addison,  100, 
213 

Richardson,  Fred,  286 

Richardson,  James  H.,   147,   150 

Richardson   &    Co.,    148 

Richardson  &  Cox,   148 

Rico,   Martin,   influence  of,   226 

Ridinger,  Johann  Elias,  work  re- 
produced, 141 

Rimmer,  William,  drawing  repro- 
duced, 163 

Riordan,  Roger,  214 

Ritchie,  Alexander  Hay,  4,  68,  89, 
91,  117 


366 


INDEX 


Ritchie,  George  Wistar  Hodge,   12 

"  Riverside   Magazine,"   219 

"  Rivington's        Royal        Gazette," 

cited,   244 
Roberts,  B.,   publisher,   53 
Roberts,   Charles,    187 
Roberts,   J.    M.,    184 
Roberts,   John,    113 
Roberts,  William,  148 
Robertson,   Alexander,   84 
Robertson,   Archibald,   113,   183 
Robinson,  Boardman,  285,   337 
Robinson,  H.   D.,  246 
Robinson,    H.    R.,    253,    254 
Rodgers,   painting  reproduced,   91 
Rogers,   W.   S.,   cited,   321,   331 
Rogers,   William   Allen,    227,   279, 

284 
Rollinson,  William,  aquatints,  124; 
book-plates,    292;    a    chaser    of 
buttons,    53-54,    93 ;    line-engrav- 
ings,  71,   74,   80,   81,   93,   103 
Romans,  Bernard,  55,   57,  63,  65 
Rondel,    Frederic,    198 
Rood,  Roland,  28 
Rorker,  Edwin  E.,  12 
"Rosa,  H."   (H.  R.  Lossing),  220 
Rosenberg,  C.  G.,  268 
Rosenberg,    H.,   24 
Rosenberg,   Henry  M.,  28,   326 
Rosenkrantz,   Arild,   Baron,   326 
Rosenmeyer,   Bernard  Jacob,   194 
Rosenthal,    Albert,    30 
Rosenthal,    L.    N.,    188,    195 
Rosenthal,      Max,      etchings,      30; 
lithographs,     189,     195 ;     mezzo- 
tints,   119 
Rost,  C.,  loi 

Roth,  Ernest  David,  45-46 
Rothermel,   Peter    F.,   89,    117,   206 
Roulette,  in   aquatint,   128,   132;   in 
etching,   20,   21 ;    in   line-engrav- 
ing)   79>    9'' >    in    mezzotint,    115, 
116 
Roush,  L.  L.,   326 
Rousseau,     Th.,     paintings     repro- 
duced,  164 
Rowlandson,  Thomas,  influence  of, 

125,  241,  249 
Rowse,  Samuel  Worcester,  97 
"  Royal    American   Magazine,"    62, 

72,   243  _ 
Royal    Society   of  Painter   Etchers, 

London,   13 
Ruggles,  E.,  Jr.,  291 
Ruling  machine,  5,  79,  91,  94,  95, 
116 


Ruzicka,  Rud.,   177,  304 
Ryland,   W.   W.,   61 

Sabin,   J.   Percy,   109 

Sabin,   Joseph   F.,   27 

Backer,   Amy,   339 

S?.dd,  H.  S.,  loi,  117 

St.      Memin,    Charles      Balthazar 

Julien  Fevret  de,  i,  66,  125,  128, 

316 
"  Saint   Nicholas,"   i68,   272,   326 
Saintin,  Jules  Emile,  190 
Salmagundi  Club,  New  York,  310, 

322 
"  Sam,  the  Scaramouch,"  281 
Sandham,  Henry,  29,  227,  299,  302, 

306,    341 
Sandler,  Alexander,   340 
Sandpaper  mezzotint,  131,   133 
Sanford,  Isaac,   57 
Sargent,   Henry,   112 
Sargent,   John    Singer,   lithographs, 

201-202 
Sarony,   Napoleon,   197,  254,   318 
Sarony  &  Major,   184,   191,  255 
Sarony,   Major   &  Knapp,   192 
Sartain,   John,    8,    119;    mezzotints, 

109,   113-116,   117 
Sartain,    Samuel,    117 
Sartain,  William,  etchings,  28,  29; 

mezzotints,  119 
Satin,   impressions   on,   69 
Satterlee,  Walter,  27,  340 
Savage,    Edward,    aquatints,    X23 ; 

line   and   stipple   engravings,   64, 

69,     70;     mezzotints,     no,     112; 

paintings  reproduced,  118,  124 
Scacki,   Francis,   2 
Scharf,   T.,   cited,  251,  253 
Schell,   F.   B.,   217 
Schell,   Frank   H.,   218 
Schelling,   R.,    168 
Schilling,    Alexander,    16,    41,    48 
Schladltz,  Ernst,  i6i 
Schlecht,   Charles,   103,  104 
Schneider,   Otto  J.,  42 
Schoff,    Stephen    Alonzo,    etchings, 

27,    30,    33-34,    35 ;    line-engrav- 
ings,   97,    lOI 
School  book  illustration,  220-221 
Schreyvogel,    Charles,    203 
Schussele,    Christian,    illustrations, 

206,      217;       lithographs,       196; 

paintings     reproduced,     89,     117, 

119 
Schwarzmann,  Adolf,  275 
Schweinfurth,    Julius    A.,    331 


INDEX 


367 


Scoles,  John,  72,  73 

Scot,  Robert,  57,  80 

Scot   &  Allardice,   81 

Scotch  stone,  in  etching,  20,  133 

Scratchers'   Club,  Brooklyn,   12 

Scribner's,    Charles,    Sons,    168 

"  Scribner's  Monthly,"  caricatures, 
272;  illustrations,  199,  219;  il- 
lustrations by  the  "  new  school  " 
of  wood-engravers,  154,  155, 
163,  165,  i68,  221 ;  posters,  324, 
326-327;   cited,  279 

Scudder,  Horace  E.,  cited,  225 

Sears    (Fenner   &   Sears),   82 

Sebron,   H.,   129 

Seer,  Alfred  S.,  194,  317,  319,  320 

Seiter  &  Kappes,  335 

Seitz,  Emil,   publisher,   5,   10,   186 

Senat,  Prosper  L.,  16 

Senefelder  Co.,   190 

Senseney,   George,   38,  45,   132 

Sewell,  Robert  van  Vorst,  28 

Seymour,  Joseph  H.,  59,  73,  80,  81, 
295 

Seymour,  Ralph  Fletcher,   306,  308 

Seymour,  Samuel,  80 

Shakespeare  illustrations,  90,  141, 
207,  209,  211,   222-223 

Shallus,  Francis,  124,  292,  294- 
295 

Share,   H.  Pruett,   34 

Sharp,  William,  English  engraver, 
io6;   copied,   55 

Sharp,   W.,  &  Co.,   194 

Shattuck,  Aaron  Draper,  paint- 
ings  reproduced,   85 

Shaver,  J.  R.,  237 

Shaw,  Albert,  cited,  286 

Shaw,  Howard  Van  Dusen,  306 

Shaw,  Joshua,  79,  126 

Shaw,   Robert,   29 

Sheldon,   Rufus,    134,    135 

Shelton,  William  Henry,  17,  27, 
214,  225 

Shepherd,  Jessie  Curtis,  219 

Sheppard,  William  L.,  218,  267, 
269,  282 

Sherwin,  J.   H.,   186 

Sherwood,     Rosina     Emmet,     340, 

341 

"  Shinn,  Earl"  (Edward  Strahan), 
214 

Shinn,  Everett,   135 

Shirlaw,  Walter,  bank-note  vi- 
gnettes, 96;  an  engraver,  85; 
etchings,  26-27,  34  i  illustrations, 
228 


Sill,  Howard,  305 

Silversmiths,  53,  138 

Simon,    112 

Simond,  L.,  295 

Sinclair,  T.  S.,  192,  194 

Sindelar,  Thomas  A.,  342 

"  Sketch  Book,"  Chicago,  cited,  306 

Slade,    D.   R.,   cited,   io8 

Slader,  wood-engraver,  151 

Sloan,  John,  etchings,  42,  43,  208; 
lithographs,  203 ;  posters,  325- 
326,   327,   331 

Smedley,  William  Thomas,  illus- 
trations, 222,  223,  224,  228,  236; 
posters,  327 

Smillie,   George  Henry,  28 

Smillie,  James,  line-engravings,  82, 
85,  89,  90,  91,  93,  95,  97,  100, 
101,  106;  etchings,  4;  litho- 
graphs,  190 

Smillie,  James  David,  aquatints, 
130;  book-plates,  301,  304;  line- 
engravings,  86,  96,  97,  101; 
etchings,  9,  10,  11,  13,  15,  19, 
20,  27,  33-34,  35;  soft-ground 
etchings,  21;  lithographs,  194; 
mezzotints,  120-121 ;  as  printer, 
21;  as  teacher,  38,  41;  cited,  36, 

lOI 

Smirke,  Robert,  designs  reproduced, 
82 

Smith,  B.  E.,  84 

Smith,  Dan,  320,  328 

Smith,  F.  Berkeley,  325,   326,   331 

Smith,  Francis  Hopkinson,  litho- 
graphs, 199;  cited,  224,  225,  227, 
231,  237 

Smith,  George  Girdler,  78;  (An- 
nin  &  Smith),  128,   190,  292 

Smith,  Hezekiah  Wright,   102,  118 

Smith,  J.  Andre,  40,  43 

Smith,  J.  H.,  276 

Smith,    Jessie    Willcox,    220,    333, 

338 
Smith,  John  Raphael,   112 
Smith,     John     Rubens,     124,     183 ; 
aquatints,  123;  etchings,  2;  litho- 
graphs,    190;     mezzotints,     112; 
stipple,  77,  79 
Smith,   Pamela    Colman,    307 
Smith,   Sidney  L.,  book-plates,   300, 
303;    etchings,    30,    34,    35;    line- 
engravings,    62,    63,     104,    105; 
cited,  9 
Smith,   William    D.,    82 
Smith,  W.   Granville,  228,   327 
Smither,  J.,   55,   57,   65,  72,  292 


368 


INDEX 


Smithwick,  John  G.,  154,  155,  161 
Snyder,    H.   W.,   75 
Society  of  American  Artists,  332 
Society  of  American  Etchers,  29 
Society  of  American  Fakirs,  332 
Society     of     American     Wood-En- 
gravers, 164,  167,   168 
Society  of  Colonial  Dames,  310 
Society  of  Iconophiles,  52,  104,  131, 

135,  171,  200 
Soft-ground  etching.      See  Etching. 
"  Soft    metal    process,"    2i6 
Sonntag,  Wm.  Louis,  paintings  re- 
produced,  85 
Sons  of  the  Revolution,  29 
"Southern   Illustrated   News,"   215 
Spanish-American  War   in   carica- 
ture, 255,  278-279,  284;  in  lithog- 
raphy, 193 
Sparks,   Will,   47 
SparrovF,    Thomas,    54,     138,    291, 

293 

Spear,   Gil,   335 

Spenceley,   Frederick,   304,   306 

Spenceley,  J.  Winfred,  104;  book- 
plates, 300,  302,  303,  306,  308, 
309,   310 

Spencer,  Lily  Martin,  works  repro- 
duced,  206 

Spier    (Davis   &   Spier),    152 

Spongotj'pe,  134 

Sprague,    Isaac,   191 

Springfield,  Mass.,  Public  Library, 
169 

Squire,  Maud  Hunt,  47 

StaflFordshire  pottery,  views  on, 
131 

Stamp  Act,  241,  243,  244 

"Stanlaws,  Penrh}!! "  (P.  S. 
Adamson),   276 

Stansbury,   A.  I.,   82 

Staudenbaur,    R.,    168 

Stauffer,  David  McNeely,  book- 
plates, 305,  306,  308;  caricatures, 
259;  cited,  I,  54,  55,  57,  58,  62, 
63,  65,  68,  69,  95,  97,  100,  107, 
108,  109,  112,  113,  115,  116,  124, 
126,  128,  139,  187,  190,  243,  251, 
294,  310,  316 

Steel,  James  W.,   92 

Steel,  engraving  on,  206,  207,  and 
chapter   iv  in   general 

Steel   plates,   94,  95 

Steele,    Frederic    Dorr,    237,    238, 

334 
Steeper,  John,  56,  57 
Stephens,    Alice    Barber,    220 


Stephens,  Henry  L.,  caricatures, 
268,  269;  illustrations,  193,  206, 
213,  214 

Sterner,  Albert,  illustrations,  228, 
237,  279;  lithographs,  202;  mon- 
otypes,  135,   136 

Stetson,  Charles  Walter,  34 

Stevens,  Thomas  Wood  and  Helen 
B.,  47 

Stevens,    William    Dodge,    237 

Stipple  engraving,  59,  64,  69-72, 
III,  113,  124;  19th  century,  75- 
79,  82,  91,  93,  116,  u8,  128,  252; 
in  etching,  21 ;  in  illustration, 
75-77,  82 

Stoddard,  Richard  Henry,  cited, 
230 

Stokes,   I.   N.   Phelps,   cited,   52 

Stone,  Wilbur  Macey,  305,  333; 
cited,  307,  308.  See  also  Trip- 
tjxh.  The. 

Story,  Thomas  C.  (Story  &  At- 
wood),  68 

Stothard,  Thomas,  designs  en- 
graved,  8i 

Strahan,  Edward  ("Earl  Shinn"), 
214 

Strang,  William,  influence  of,  39 

Strickland,   William,    124,    125 

Strobridge  Lithographic  Co.,  193- 
194,  320 

Strong,  Thomas  W.,  wood-engraver, 
148,  162,  215;  publisher,  144, 
317. — of  lithographs,  255,  256, 
— of  periodicals,  215,  266, — of 
wood-engravings,  257,  263 

Strother,  David  Hunter  ("Porte 
Crayon"),    213 

Stuart,  Gilbert,  and  the  "gerry- 
mander," 246;  paintings  repro- 
duced, 69,  71,  72,  75,  119,  185 

"  Studio  "   London,   cited,   330 

"  Studio,"     New     York,    cited,     12, 

34 

Stur,   Karl   Edler  von,  273 

Sturgis,   Russell,   306 

Sugden,  Thomas  D.,  154,  162,  218, 
317 

Sullivant,  T.   S.,  280,  286 

Sully,  Thomas,  lithographs,  181, 
183;  his  paintings  reproduced, 
76,   77i  ,83,   92,   115,   116,   186 

Sulphur,    in    etching,    133 

"  Sun,  The,"  New  York,  illustra- 
tions,   217;    cited,    31 

"Sunset,"    33S;    cited,  47 

Sweett,   Moses.     See  Swett. 


INDEX 


369 


Swett,   Moses,    184,    194    (Endicott 

&  Swett). 
Sydney  "  Bulletin,"  272 

Taber,  Florence,  340 

Tail  pieces,   105 

Tanner,    Benjamin,    64,    70,    71-72, 

75,  80,  81,  83 
Tanner,   Henry,   94 
Tanner,    Vallance,  Kearny  &  Co., 

95 

Tarbell,  Edmund  C,  painting  re- 
produced,  166 

Taylor,    Charles   Jay,   274-275 

Taylor,  William  Ladd,  230,  327 

Teague,    Darwin,    335 

Teniers,  David,  painting  repro- 
duced,  141 

Tennant,  W.,  56 

Tenniel,  Sir  John,  264;  influence 
of,   274 

"Texas   Sif tings,"   283 

Thackara,  James,  2,  80,  81,  292 

Thayer,  Abbott  Handerson,  paint- 
ings   reproduced,    33 

Thayer,  B.  W.,  &  Co.,  191,  194 

Thomas,    George,    317 

Thomas,    George   H.,   146 

Thomas,    Henry    A.,    194,    318 

Thomas,    Isaiah,   publisher,    59,   73 

Thomas  &  Wylie,   320,   332 

Thompson,  E.  Seton,  214 

Thompson,    John,    141,    146 

Thorpe,  Thomas  Bangs,  213 

Thulstrup,  Thure  de,  225,  226, 
227 

Thurston,  John,  designs  repro- 
duced, 81,  141 ;  influence  of,  209 

Thurwanger,   Martin,    188-189 

Thwaites,   William  H.,  213 

Tickets,   engraved,    57 

Tiebout,  Cornelius,  63,  69,  72,  74, 
78,  80,  81,  82,  83 

Tietze,    Richard    George,    161,    168 

Tiffany,   Louis   C,    340 

Tinkey,  John,  150,  162 

Tint  blocks,  in  wood-engraving, 
148 

Tisdale,  Elkanah,  63,  72,  73,  80, 
81,  244 

Titles,  title-pages,  engraved  in 
line,  57,  8i,  105 ;  engraved  on 
wood,  138,  139;  etched,  2;  maga- 
zines 210;  music,'  57 

Tobin,    George   F.,   338 

"  Tomahawk,"   London,  271 

Tomkins,  P.  W.,  71 


Toms,  W.  H.,  S3 
Toppan,    Charles,    184 
Toppan,    Robert    Noxon,    cited,    95 
Totten,   Emma  J.,   305 
Transfer   press,   94 
Trenchard,    James,    72,    292 
Triptych,   The  (W.  M.  Stone,  Jay 
Chambers,      William      Jordan), 
30s,  307,  308 
Trollope,  Mrs.  Frances  Milton,  99 
Troutsdale   Press,   cited,   308 
Trowbridge,   Vaughan,  45,   132 
Truesdell,  W.  Porter,  cited,   308 
Trumble,    Alfred,   cited,    281-282 
Trumbull,    John,    paintings    repro- 
duced,   63,    90,    91,    I02 
"Truth,"    New   York,   216 
Tryon,  Dwight  William,  paintings 

reproduced,    164 
Tucker,   William  E.,   98 
Turner,   A.   M.,   341 
Turner,    Charles    Yardley,    34 
Turner,    James,    54,    55,    56,    57; 

book-plates,    291 
Turner,    James    Mallord    William, 
a      "  Liber      Studiorum "      plate 
copied,     121 ;     paintings     repro- 
duced,   125 
Twachtman,  John  H.,  25 
Twachtman,  Mrs.  John  H.,  22 
Type-metal,     engravings     on,     57, 
61,  62,  138,  139,  140,  142 

Uhle,  Bernhard,   13 
Underwood,  Abby  E.,  325 
"  United   States   Magazine,"   212 
Union    League    Club,    New    York 

City,    exhibition    of    etchings    by 

women,  22 
University  of  California,  310,  311 

Vallance,  John,  line-engravings,  2, 
57,  8i,  95;  stipple,  77;  book- 
plates,  292 

Vanderhoof,  Charles  A.,  etchings, 
13,  15,  16;  soft-ground  etchings, 
21,  41;  illustrations,  227;  litho- 
graphs,  199 

Vanderlyn,  John,  paintings  repro- 
duced, 77,  90,  97 

Van  Elten,  H.  D.  Kruseman.  See 
Kruseman   van   Elten. 

"Vanity    Fair"     (London),    272 

"Vanity   Fair"    (New  York),  268 

Van   Ness,   L   M.,   i6i 

Van  Rensselaer,  Mariana  Griswold 
(Schuyler),  cited,  18,  22,  226 


370 


INDEX 


Van    Schaick,    Steph.   W.,   279 
Vedder,    Elihu,    book-plate,      306; 

card,      340 ;      caricatures,      268 ; 

cover,     338;     illustrations,     229; 

cited,  212-213 
"Vehme,  Die,"  273 
Velasquez,     paintings     reproduced, 

166 
"Verdict,  The,"  281 
Verger,  P.  C.,  64 

Vermeer,  paintings  reproduced,  166 
"Victor,  F."   (Victor  Gillam),  276 
Vierge,  Daniel,  poster,  325 ;  influ- 
ence of,  226 
Vinci,    Leonardo    da,    119;    "Last 

Supper "    reproduced,   79 
Vinton,    Frederic   Porter,    paintings 

reproduced,   33 
Visscher  view  of  New  York,  52 
Volk,  Douglas,  341 
Volkmar,    Charles,    10,   28 
Vondrous,  John  C,  40,  43 

W.,  J.,  263 
W^agner,   R.,    333 
Walcott,  Jessie  McDermott,  220 
Waldo,   Samuel  Lovett,  103 
Wales,  James  Albert,  272,  274,  276 
Walker,   Charles  A.,   35,   134 
Walker,    Horatio,    painting    repro- 
duced, 166 
Walker,  William  H.,  280,  286 
Wall,  William  G.,  84,   126 
Wallace,  W.   H.,  29 
Waller,  Frank,  28 
Wallin,  Samuel,  212,  215 
Walter,  Adam  B.,   118 
Walters,    William   Thompson,    196 
"War    Cry,"   215,   280 
War  of  1812,  illustrated,  83,  125; 

in  caricature,  246-250 
Ward,  Townsend,  cited,  82 
Waring,  J.  D.,  publisher,  29,  34 
Warner,     Everett     Longley,     304; 

etchings,    43 
Warner,  William,  116 
Warren,  A.   Coolidge,  218 
Warren,  A.  W.,  1,  8,  9 
Washburn,     Cadwallader,    40,    46 

48 
Washington,  George,  portraits  of, 
I.  30,  54-55.  60,  61,  66,  67,  69, 
70,  71.  89.  92,  93.  97,  102,  109, 
no,  III,  113,  118,  119,  124,  140; 
caricatures  of,  245 ;  portraits  in 
lithography,  181,  182,  183,  185, 
195 ;  caricatures  of,  245 ;  crossing 


the  Delaware,  3 ;  inauguration, 
64;  book  on  engraving  in  his 
library,   2 

Washington   "Star,"   286 

"Wasp,"    193,   277 

Watson,   Henry   Sumner,   327 

Watson,  M.  L.  D.,  219-220 

Watt,    William   G.,    173 

Wattles,   266 

Waud,   Alfred   R.,   215,   217 

Waud,    William,    217 

Way,   Thomas   R.,   200 

Webb,   Margaret   Ely,   305 

Weber,    Otto,    13 

Weber,    Sarah   S.    Stilwell,  220 

Webster,  Herman  Armour,  40,  43- 
44,  48 

Wedmore,  Frederick,  cited,  43 

Weeks,  W.  W.,  6 

Wegner,    A,    D.,    194 

Wegner,  Brueckner  &  Mueller,  194 

Weingartner  (Nagel  &  Wein- 
gartner),    186,    189 

Weir,  Julian  Alden,  card,  341 ; 
etchings,  25 ;  line-engraving, 
105;  lithographs,  199;  paintings 
reproduced,    166 

Weir,  Robert  Walter,   3,  6,  32,  98 

Welch,  Thomas  B.,  77,  78,  117-118 

Weldon,  Charles  Dater,  216,  341 

Wellington,  Frank  H.,  161,  171, 
172 

Wellmore,   E.,  77 

Wells,   Newton  A.,  47 

Wellstood,  John  Geikie,  94 

Wellstood,    William,    84,    86,    88 

Wenban,    S.    L.,   24 

Wendel,    Theodore    M.,    24 

Wenzell,  Albert  Beck,  233 

West,  Benjamin,  etchings,  3;  lith- 
ographs, 180;  paintings  repro- 
duced,   117 

West,  Raphael,  180 

Westall,  Richard,  designs  repro- 
duced,   8 1 

Westcott,    Thomas,    cited,    243 

Western  Art  Union,  88 

Western  Methodist  Book  Concern, 
88 

Wheelan,  Albertine  Randall,  301, 
305,  307,  310 

Wheeler,  Dora.     See  Keith,  D.  W. 

Whelpley,  P.   M.,   117 

Whistler,  James  Abbott  McNeill, 
etchings,  6,  23,  24,  161 ;  litho- 
graphs, 200-201,  202;  as  printer, 
9,  21,  49 ;   paintings   reproduced, 


INDEX 


371 


166,  168;  influence  of,  25,  39,  46; 

cited,   173,  201 
White,    Charles   Henry,   9,    38,   39- 

40,  48 
White,    Edwin,    6,    198 
White,  George  G.,  206,  213,  221 
White,  Gleeson,  cited,  330,  341 
White,   John,   51 
White,    John    Blake,    117 
"  White   line  "   in   wood-engraving, 

140,   141,    142,    145,   163 
Whitechurch,  Robert,  89,  117 
Whitefield,    E.,    191 
Whitmore,  Wm.  Henry,  cited,  io8, 

143 

Whitney,   Elias   J.,    147,    148,   211 

Whitney,  J.   H.   E.,   161 

Whitney,    Mrs.    O.    E.,    340 

Wickenden,   Robert  J.,  202 

Wiederseim,    Grace    Gebbie,    315 

Wiggins,    Carleton,    12 

Wilcox,   John    A.   J.,    103 

Wild,   J.    C,    191 

Wildhack,   Robert   J.,   335 

Wiles,  Irving  Ramsay,  227,  228; 
posters,   325,   326 

Will,   August,   212 

Willcox,   Joseph,   cited,   95 

Williams,   R.    F.,   47,   304 

Williams,    Virgil,    13 

Williamson,   Charters,    12 

Willing,  Thomson,   306 

Wilmer,  W.   A.,   77 

Wilson,   Alexander,    82 

Wilson,  Rose  O'Neill,  220 

Wilson,   William,   6 

Winslow,   Henry,   40,   43 

Winters,   56 

Wolf,  Henry,  165,  166,  167,  169, 
171,  173 

Women  artists:  book-plate  design- 
ers, 301,  305,  307,  310;  card  de- 
signers, 340,  341 ;  cover  design- 
ers, 338,  339;  etchers,  13,  15, 
20,  21,  22-23 ;  illustrators,  219- 
220;  poster  designers,  315,  325, 
328,  331,  333,  334;  wood-engrav- 
ers,  142,   176 

Wood,  Joseph,  paintings  repro- 
duced,   75,   77,    124 

Wood,  Robert  W.,  267 

Wood,  Samuel,  publisher,  140,   145 

Wood,  Thomas  Waterman,   18,  28 

Wood-engraving,  36-37,  53,  62,  68, 
118,  chapter  vii,  137-153;  the 
"new  school,"  97,  151,  chapter 
viii,  154-170,  221 ;  painter-wood- 


engraving,  chapter  ix,  171-179; 
advertisements,  140,  315,  316, 
317,  318;  book-plates,  293,  302, 
304;  caricatures,  247,  248,  257, 
258,  263,  266-271,  273;  illustra- 
tion, 205,  208-216;  paper-money, 
138,  139;  posters,  317,  318,  320, 
332,    337;    color-work,    148,    173, 

174,  175,  176,  177.  273-274.  317; 
printing,  146 ;  tones  vs.  lines, 
221,  chapter  viii;  instruction, 
144,  i6i;  durability  of  wood- 
blocks, 141,  142,  172;  British  in- 
fluence, 146,  151;  imitation  of 
copper-plate  engraving,  142,  145, 
146,  150,  209;  designs  photo- 
graphed on  the  block,  152,  153, 
157.  159.  230;  influence  of 
photography,  106,  238 
Woodbury,    Charles    Herbert,    28, 

326,  331 
Woodville,  R.  Caton,  86,  88 
Woodward,  John  D.,  151,  218 
Woolf,    Michael    Angelo,    carica- 
tures,   267,    272,    283 ;    painting 
reproduced,   169 
Worcester,    Albert,    44 
"World,    The,"    New    York,    216, 

284;   cited,   229 
"World  To-Day,  The,"  cited,  287 
"World's   Work,"   cited,    284 
Worth,     Thomas,     193,    259,     265, 

267,  283 
Wray,   Henry  Russell,  cited,  8,  10, 

13.   32,   36 
Wright,    wood-engraver,    145 
Wright,    Charles    Cushing,    91,   95, 

lOO 

Wright,   Charles   Hubbard,    328 
Wright,   George   Hand,  237 
Wright,  Joseph,   i 
Wust,   Theodore,   28,   271 
Wylie    (Thomas  &  Wylie),   320 
Wylie,  Robert,  268 

Yale,  Dr.  Leroy  Milton,  9,  lo,  11, 
15,  21,  28,   304 

"  Yankee   Doodle,"   266 

"  Yankee  Notions,"  144,  266,  267 

Yeager,   Joseph,  4,   5,   207 

Yegel,   W.   J.,   327 

Yohn,   Frederick   C.,  237 

Yonghe,    De,    328 

Young,   Arthur,   275 

"  Young   America,"    144,   267 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, Orange,  N.  J.,  169 


372  INDEX 

"Zeitschrift   fiir   Bildende   Kunst,"  Zimmermann,   W.,   i68 

cited,  233  Zinc,  used  in  lithography,  318 

Ziegfeld,   Hugo,   320  Zinc  etching,  217,  337 

Zimmerman,  Eugene  ("Zim"),  274,  Zogbaura,    Rufus    Fairchild,    225 

276  Zorn,  Anders,  influence  of,  39 


DUFFIELD  OSBORNE'S  ENGRAVED  GEMS 

Signets,  Talismans  and  Ornamental  Intaglios,  ancient  and 
modern.  By  the  author  of  "The  Lion's  Brood,"  editor  of 
Livy's  "Roman  History,"  etc.  With  32  plates  figuring  700 
gems,  and  numerous  line  drawings.     Large  8vo.     $6.00  net, 

Springfield  Republican:  "Fascinating  to  any  serious  student  of  art 
and  will  also  appeal  to  that  larger  reading  public  always  to  be  tempted 
by  curiosities.  .  .  .  No  form  of  art  has  had  a  more  interesting  history, 
or  within  the  last  century  a  more  sensational  history.  .  .  .  Appears  to 
be  without  a  rival  in  English." 

WEITENKAMPF'S  AMERICAN  GRAPHIC  ART 

A  comprehensive  review  of  the  American  reproductive 
graphic  arts  (etching,  engraving  on  wood  and  metal,  lith- 
ography) and  their  application  to  such  specialties  as  illustra- 
tion, book-plates  and  posters,  by  the  curator  of  prints  in  the 
New  York  Public  Library,  who  is  also  the  author  of  "How  to 
Appreciate  Prints,"  etc.  The  work  of  individuals  is  consid- 
ered chiefly  in  its  relation  to  general  movements.  Profusely 
illustrated.     $2.75  net. 

GARDEN'S  THE  UFE  OF  GEORGIO  VASARI 

By  R.  W.  Garden.   A  Study  of  the  Later  Renaissance  in  Italy, 
with  frontispiece  and  illustrations  from  photographs  of  paint- 
ings, sculptures,  and  buildings.     8vo.      374  pp.     $4.00  net. 
Mr.  Garden  has  provided  a  full  and  authoritative  biography 
of  the  great  historian  of  Italian  art.  .    .   .  Will  be  found  of  as 
general  interest  as  it  is  adequate  in  treatment  of  the  subject. 

PHILUPS'  ART  AND  ENVIRONMENT 

By  L.  March  Phillips.     8vo.     343  pp.     $2.00  net. 

Chapters  on  the  art  and  architecture  of  Egyptians,  Greeks, 
Romans,  Saracens,  and  later  European  races,  viewed  from 
the  standpoint  that  these  arts  reveal  man  and  furnish  a  key 
to  the  understanding  of  racial,  geographic,  and  historical 
conditions. 

"Contends  for  a  new  and  consistent  view  of  art.  It  has  nothing  to 
say  regarding  the  esthetic  qualities  of  art,  but  confines  itself  exclusively 
to  the  consideration  of  art  as  an  expression  of  human  life  and  character 
.  .  .  makes  for  that  larger  brotherhood  which  is  the  prevailing  spirit 
of  our  Wvae." —Chicago  Tribune. 

ROSE'S  THE  WORLD'S  LEADING  PAINTERS 

By  G.  B.  Rose.  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Raphael,  Titian,  Rubens, 
Velasquez,  Rembrandt.  In  The  World's  Leaders  Series. 
Edited  by  W.  P.  Trent.     With  portraits.     Ir.75  net. 

Brooklyn  Eagle:  "Here  are.  for  the  first  time  in  English,  satisfactory 
biographies  of  these  men." 

HENRY     HOLT     AND     COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  (ix  'xj)  NEW  YORK 


LEADING  AMERICANS 

Edited  by  W.  P.  Trent,  and  generally  confined  to  those  no 

longer  living.     Large  i2mo.     With  portraits. 

Each  $1-75,  by  mail  $1.90. 

R.  M.  JOHNSTON'S  LEADING  AMERICAN  SOLDIERS 

By  the  Author  of  "Napoleon,"  etc. 

Washington,  Greene,  Taylor,  Scott,  Andrew  Jackson,  Grant, 
Sherman,  Sheridan,  McClellan,  Meade,  Lee,  "Stonewall" 
Jackson,  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 

"  Very  interesting  .  .  .  much  sound  originality  of  treatment,  and  the 
style  is  very  clear." — Springfield  Republican. 

JOHN  ERSKINE'S   LEADING  AMERICAN  NOVEUSTS 

Charles  Brockden  Brown,  Cooper,  Simms,  Hawthorne, 
Mrs.  Stowe,  and  Bret  Harte. 

"  He  makes  his  study  of  these  novelists  all  the  more  striking  because 
of  their  contrasts  of  style  and  their  varied  purpose.  .  .  .  Well  worth 
any  amount  of  time  we  may  care  to  spend  upon  them." — Boston  Tran- 
script. 

W.  M.  PAYNE'S   LEADING  AMERICAN  ESSAYISTS 

A  General  Introduction  dealing  with  essay  writing  in  Amer- 
ica, and  biographies  of  Irving,  Emerson,  Thoreau,  and  George 
William  Curtis. 

"  It  is  necessary  to  know  only  the  name  of  the  author  of  this  work 
to  be  assured  of  its  literary  excellence." — Literary  Digest. 

LEADING   AMERICAN   MEN  OF   SCIENCE 

Edited  by  President  David  Starr  Jordan. 

Count  Rumford  and  Josiah  Willard  Gibbs,  by  E.  E.  Slosson; 
Alexander  Wilson  and  Audubon,  by  Witmer  Stone;  Silliman,  by 
Daniel  C.  Gilman;  Joseph  Henry,  by  Simon  Newcomb;  Louis  Agassiz 
and  Spencer  Fullerton  Baird,  by  Charles  F.  Holder;  Jeffries  Wyman, 
by  B.  G.  Wilder;  Asa  Gray,  by  John  M.  Coulter;  James  Dwight  Dana, 
by  William  North  Rice;  Marsh,  by  Geo.  Bird  Grinnell;  Edward 
Drinker  Cope,  by  Marcus  Benjamin;  Simon  Newcomb,  by  Marcus 
Benjamin;  George  Brown  Goode,  by  D.  S.  Jordan;  Henry  Augustus 
Rowland,  by  Ira  Remsen;  William  Keith  Brooks,  by  E.  A.  Andrews. 

GEORGE  ILES'S  LEADING   AMERICAN   INVENTORS 

By  the  author  of  "  Inventors  at  Work,"  etc.  Colonel  John  Stevens 
(screw-propeller,  etc.);  his  son,  Robert  (T-rail,  etc.);  Fulton;  Erics- 
son; Whitney;  Blanchard  (lathe);  McCormick;  Howe;  Goodyear; 
Morse;  Tilgh.man  (paper  from  wood  and  sand  blast);  Sholes  (type- 
writer);   and   Mergenthaler    (linotype). 

Other  Volumes  covering  Lawyers,  Poets,  Statesmen, 
Editors,  Explorers, etc., arranged  for.   Leaflet  on  application. 

HENRY     HOLT    AND     COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  (ix'i2)  NEW  YORK 


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University  of  California 
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